The Maxwell Project
by Anonymous Void
Summary: Changed into living weapons, two boys escape from their nightmarish world but their past will not let them go willingly.
1. Living in an Uncaring World

Author's Note: For all you action junkies, here's something new for all you to get addicted to. Not only do you get to enjoy The Eternal Encore, you also get to see my latest brainchild, The Maxwell Project. As always, if you're looking for answers all in the first chapter, then you don't know me by now. Remember friends, even the most inconsequential phrase can be and will be used in future chapters, just to keep you all on your toes.

I would also like to give another thank you to Archsage Soren for taking a look at this and picking out some errors that I had missed in earlier proofreading. Couldn't have done it without ya pal.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language (if you haven't figured that one out by now, then why are you reading this?)

The Maxwell Project

Living in an Uncaring World

If there was one thing that the boy knew, it was this: hope was fake, that is to say it was not real.

There had been a time when he had had hope, a time when that was the only thing that kept him alive. That time seemed far off now that he looked back at it. And, if anything, it seemed more hopeless than where he found himself currently.

He was…is an orphan. His parents had abandoned him a long, long time ago and he had been forced to learn the unique survival skills necessary for surviving on the streets. How it was possible for humans to live in such squalor and horrible conditions, it was beyond any conscious feeling individual. Yet, it had not only been his reality; it had been his life, his entire life.

Since he had been so young, he was easily able to adapt to living in such primal conditions. All he really needed were the necessities for survival, those being food, water, and shelter.

Finding the last one wasn't too hard since all you needed was something over your head but getting good water and the right amount of food was another story altogether. There were days, sometimes weeks, when he went without anything. If there was anything he wouldn't wish on somebody, it was the raw hunger pains he had been forced to endure as a very young child. Nothing, not even the stuff they did to him could compare to that…

However, finding the things one needed for survival weren't the only things to be on the watch for. No, there were the predators, the ones that preyed on the helpless, enjoyed dishing out pain to whoever they caught, caring for no one else but their selves. Sometimes they would beat you and take anything you had on your person. Other times…other times if you weren't lucky enough, they stole your innocence, your dignity…

And sometimes that was all you had left…

He had been a lucky one; he hadn't been caught by any of those damn bastards to receive a beating or a rape. He had been that good. He had used everything he could to his advantage, from squeezing into small crevices that no grown man could get into to even using the public as a shield between him and those monsters.

Maybe that was what attracted _their_ attention in the first place.

He could recall it all with such clarity now. It happened one fine day where the weather wasn't being a bitch and raining on everything and it wasn't too cold either. He had been minding his own business, i.e. looking for suckers to pickpocket when he had caught sight of a twenty dollar bill sticking ever so tauntingly out of a man's coat pocket that he wasn't able to resist temptation and only a fool would have passed it up. As it turned out, he was the fool for landing himself into the trap that it was. Now that he looked back at it, he couldn't help but berate himself since all the signs were there that screamed "TRAP!" to anybody who knew what to look for.

So they had him and could do whatever they wanted with him. But just who were they, you might be wondering.

They were the goddamn military, that's who.

They made him into a guinea pig, did all sorts of things to him that he was sure would result in charges of crimes against humanity if somebody should find out. At first he had pleaded and begged for them to stop and let him go, that he was just a kid that hadn't done anything wrong, had swore never to say anything to another soul about what they were doing to him, but, as was the cliché, they didn't. Soon, his tears had drained and dried out, his tolerance for what they were doing to his body increased.

He had changed. No longer was he a small malnourished boy with the mouth of a sailor on the streets. He was bigger than he had ever been and was still growing thanks to biology and puberty. His body was thick with muscle, though he still retained a lithe, sinuous body that quite easily hid his new strength. His strength had been multiplied dramatically; he was faster than he was before; his skin was tough, tough enough to endure many things without being torn, ripped open, or scratched. His intelligence though…it could have been better since he scorned all the academics they had tried to shove down his throat. He hadn't learned much except the basics of reading and writing and he didn't speak as much as he had used to. With his skills of reading, he allowed himself to sneak in tales of fantasy from some sympathetic guys who felt sorry for him as a means to escape his reality, much to the disappointment of his tyrannical oppressors.

Over time, he learned that he wasn't the only person that had been taken and worked on. There had been others, many others. Only less than half of those taken were still alive, the ones that had died couldn't withstand the tortures of the experiments being done to them. Many had had different reactions to the changes forced on them.

There was one whose intelligence had increased so greatly that he had developed telekinetic powers, ones that only grew stronger the smarter he got. Another had the ability to change their appearance, making them a chameleon of sorts. One had developed the ability to make things combust from a distance while another gained awesome strength but lost almost all semblance of intelligence.

There were so many others that he didn't have the time nor the care to actually mention. He had forced himself into the position of a loner, a guy who stayed away from social interactions. He despised the ones that were overjoyed at their sudden twist of fortunes. They actually liked their new-given abilities, loved the power that was given to them by some freaks who didn't treat them like people. Because of this, they had outcasted him socially, sneering at him behind his back only because he would beat the living shit out of them for doing it to his face. Yeah, he had a reputation alright. It was from that that he gave himself the only name he would ever acknowledge.

Solo.

Yes, he was still young, his blond hair long enough to be pulled into a ponytail that used to be a source of teasing until he put a brutal stop to it. Nobody messed with his hair, nobody. He enjoyed the fact that one look from him could cut into their confidences and he used that against them all, not only against his "comrades" but the assholes who had kidnapped him as well. He had been told that when in the midst wrath and fury, his eyes would change to the color of amber, a drastic change from his normally intense green. This was only confirmed when he gotten a good look in a mirror once and he had to say, amber eyes looked good on him.

Despite everything in this small world of his, there was an abnormality that just wouldn't go away. It took the form of a small brunet, a boy around the age of fifteen or so. He was quiet, introverted, yet no one seemed to want to cross the boy, despite risking their lives against his more painful rages almost everyday. What really fascinated the blond was the braid that the boy kept his hair in. It was like a snake that followed after the boy wherever he went. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought the thing was alive…

Then one day, the strange boy stood right next to him and uttered a single, "Hi."

That was the very first word that he had ever heard from the boy's mouth.

He had stared at the kid for a minute before looking away, not inviting any sort of conversation. The following day, he found that boy at his side again, almost like his shadow, even though he kept a shy distance away from him. At first, he didn't know what to do about it but it wasn't as if he was really bothered by it. So he did nothing and let the boy continue to be near him. As the days passed, he actually grew to like the silent company that only this boy could give him and it didn't hurt that the boy hardly spoke, if at all. Even now he had no idea as to why he enjoyed the meeker boy's presence.

One day, he decided to ask what the boy's name was so that he didn't call him something that would hurt his feelings. It was strange that he thought like that since he didn't give a damn about anyone else but himself.

"I dunno," the boy had answered.

"I guess I'll just call ya Kid then until you can come up with one," he had replied.

The expression on the boy's face had been incredible. The violet eyes that were unique only to this one boy had widened, tears slightly shimmering, and his mouth twisted into a trembling smile. For the first time in all his memory, Solo found himself in an embrace, a platonic one to be sure, and it wasn't something he was liable to forget anytime soon. It had been nice, real nice. In fact, if he recalled correctly, he found himself hugging the smaller boy back.

Soon after, it seemed all the other kids were avoiding them like they had the plague or something. No one spoke ill about him, Solo, again. There were no whispers, no rumors, no gossip, no nothing. It was as if they were all afraid of invoking some supernatural wrath or something.

To tell the truth, it was welcomed by the blond since he had been irritated beyond belief by it all. All he had ever wanted in this place was to be left alone by everyone. There were two exceptions to this though. One was Kid. He was always welcomed. Heck, he could have been the little brother he never had…

The other was one that was not welcomed but he had no choice with. It was the assholes running the show. They were always making him do tests, performing more of their pain inducing experiments on him. What did they want from him anyway? Let him rephrase that, what did they want with all of them? They had never explained that…

They sure as hell weren't doing this for their health and since they were with the military, they wanted something out of them, but what? What were they trying to get? He had been down in this place for so long that he had no idea what the world was like now. He couldn't even remember what the sun looked like even though he always read about it in one of his smuggled books.

He would rather be out there than in here.

Anything else had to be better than this.


	2. Meet the X Associates

Author's Note: Seems like a few of you like this fic. Good. Well, for your enjoyment, here is chapter two. But that's not all, you get a double whammy as The Eternal Encore gets a new chapter. Don't you all feel special now? Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Meet the X Associates

As he had found himself many times, he was back on the "examination table," or as he liked to call it the "butcher's block," needles and IVs stuck into him, pumping the fluids that were the basis of the project into his body, electrodes on his forehead monitoring his brain. Probes were stuck on multiple parts of his body, sending electrical shocks into him after an interval of being filled with the mysterious liquids, his whole body restrained and tied down tightly to the cold, metal table.

He had gone through this process so many times that he was hardly phased by it. He hadn't screamed or cried out during the procedure in a long, long time, and his body always knew when electricity was about to be zapped into him. He had developed quite a tolerance for electrical surges, which was something he didn't know was a good thing or a bad thing.

At least they allowed him to wear some clothing. Even though those damn loose, gray shirts and baggy gray pants were not real suitable to be worn day in and out, at least they covered up parts of his body that he didn't want to be shown.

Finally, the shrill beeping sound that always marked the end of one of these sessions sounded, the "medic team" entering like the trained dogs that they were and pulling the tubes, electrodes, and probes off him, wiping all the small punctures he had received with alcohol to prevent infection. The moment he was cleared, cleaned, and unrestrained, he simply stood up and walked out, as if nothing had happened to him in that all that time much to the surprise of the medic's rookies.

At first he had needed a long period of time to recuperate from the sessions but now it didn't even hold him back, the amount of pain always dwindling with each injection. However, that still didn't mean he didn't feel anything from it. His veins and arteries still burned like a motherfucker with the stuff in him; his feet felt like he was walking on pins and needles; he had a huge headache that made his head throb; and his fingers were twitching and spasming because of the electricity that still coursed through him for some odd reason.

Still, it wasn't too bad. It was better than what all the others experienced since quite a few still needed help when coming out of there, a small handful needing to be literally carried out. He normally didn't care about them since he didn't like any of them anyway. To tell the truth, he was only slightly anxious when Kid was sent in there but apparently he too was building a tolerance. He still needed assistance walking once he was finished but other than that, he was fine. Unmindful of doing it, Solo would find himself hovering near the braided boy for hours on end until curfew.

Entering into the "common's room," he sat down at one of the large tables that were the only pieces of furniture in this place. The whole room served as a social gathering area, mess hall, lounge, anything for the lab rats here. Other than their assigned cells, this was the only place they had any measure of freedom.

He was so sick of all this yet he had no other choice but to live with it.

When the table he was sitting at trembled slightly, he glanced as his company, dressed also in the standard gray clothing, and gave a small smile reserved for this person and this person alone. Kid had caught up with him but he still refrained from talking. What was there to talk about anyway? Still, it would be nice to hear some sort of human voice, besides the drones of the scientists anyway.

"Are we ever getting out of here?" came Kid's sudden question, barely heard because of the boy's soft yet deep voice.

Remaining silent for a minute, Solo gave his honest answer. "Hope so. Want ta get out of here. Hasn't happened yet though."

Kid sighed in reply and they fell into yet another companionable silence. Feeling slightly generous today, despite his recent session, Solo fondly ruffled Kid's hair, enjoying the fact that Kid leaned his head into his touch. This was the closest they could get to warm, human contact. Affection was quite the stranger here. To find just a little of it was similar to finding water in a barren desert. You took what you could take and gave what you could give.

"They're running out of room," Kid spoke softly.

"Hm?" Now Solo gave Kid his full undivided attention.

"They're making us share rooms now," Kid answered looking up at him with his violet eyes, eyes that were stuck in the transition of turning into a dark crimson, the only way to tell if Kid was worried about something.

"You scared?" Solo asked.

"Kinda," Kid answered, fingering the end of his long braid. "What if they stick me with one of them?"

Solo knew what he meant by that. It was a reference to the rest of the populace here. If they had been weird beyond this drab place, they were truly freaks now, not just physically, in some cases, but mentally and emotionally as well. Some had lost their minds already…

"They ain't gonna hurt us," Solo told him. "If they were, they woulda done it already."

"You seem so sure," Kid stated.

Giving Kid a rare smirk, he said, "That's because it's fact, Kid."

--

Tearing through the open sky, creating enough noise to destroy the tranquility that belonged to this wasteland, the manmade machine known to the rest of the world as a helicopter carried its valuable human cargo deep into lands that not even a ridiculously stupid person would inhabit.

That was probably why it was so valuable when it came to trying to hide something that wasn't quite legal.

If anybody knew what was being done out here, the people involved would more than likely be executed for inhumanity and human experimentation alone, not to mention the whole crimes-against-humanity spiel.

"We're approaching our destination, General," the pilot reported. "ETA: four minutes."

The General nodded, continuing to look straight ahead, his small eyes searching for anything that stuck out. Eventually, a dark, flat surface caught his eye and the General knew they had arrived. The copter landed on the surface, the General stepping out of his transport to take a look around. Other than this cement surface and the rocky outcroppings that surrounding them, there was nothing special to be looking for.

Not really surprising since the facility they were visiting was underground…

The General was a tall man, complete with broad shoulders and an air of superiority that fit him nicely. What parts of his head that weren't balding were covered with glossy black hair that was the man's pride and joy. A thin mustache mixed in with the man's hardened looks, only serving to make him look more severe. He had dressed for this occasion in his standard military uniform, his medals and patches being the only things that showed how high up his position was.

"Are you sure this is the place?" a member of his entourage of advisors questioned, looking quite disappointed at their present location.

Refraining from answering, Septum strode boldly up to an outcropping, pulling out a card key as he did so. The closer he got to the outcropping the more strange things seemed to get, such as the rocks beginning to move, parting in front of the General. His entourage followed after him, amazed at the wonder they were seeing. Hidden beneath all the rock was a metal door and a panel. Swiping the card key, Septum punched in a code and waited.

The door opened, revealing it to be an elevator. As if he had done this multiple times, Septum entered the hidden entrance, waiting only long enough for only a few members of his entourage to gather their wits and enter as well. He was not a real patient man and if none of these fools were quick, then they would be left behind.

The ride down was smooth and effortless; Septum could barely tell that they were moving at all. The annoying ding alerted to him that they had arrived and he strode briskly through the opening doors.

He ignored all the help that attempted to welcome or delay him from his appointment. He was here for a reason and chitchat was not that reason.

In his typical manner, he barged through the doors leading him straight to the man he wanted, needed to see.

Two startling, different colored eyes ensnared him upon entry, an eyebrow raising at him questioning. Stopping in his tracks, Septum barked, "Get out. I need to speak with him alone."

His entourage quickly obeyed, closing the doors behind them as Septum leveled his gaze at the man sitting behind the large oak desk before him. Steepling his fingers in front of him, the sitting man smiled darkly at the General. He looked like a simple businessman with his dark brown hair combed, his skin and face kept up and clean, his nails groomed, the only thing odd about him being his eyes.

"Punctual as always, General," the man greeted. "How may I serve you this fine day?"

"Cut the crap Xavien," Septum snapped. "You know what I'm here for. What is your progress on Project Maxwell?"

Nodding his head, the so-named Xavien, replied, "Everything is on schedule. In fact we are close to completing the first."

"Close?!" Septem yelled. "I've been waiting nearly a decade for you to come through on this and only now you are getting results?!"

"That certainly isn't true," Xavien said soothingly. "We've made a lot of progress General. If I recall correctly, didn't I say it would take some time before anything substantial came out of this?"

"I didn't think it would take this long!" Septum exclaimed. "People are starting to ask questions about Project Maxwell. Noventa is starting to breathe down my neck and he wants to know what this is all about! I can't keep him away for much longer; I need something now!"

"Good things come to those with patience," Xavien countered. "This is not something that can be rushed General, at least not something that won't have consequences in the long run. I am looking at both long and short term on this one and I will produce. I have invested too much of myself into this to let that happen."

"And what have you to show for it?" Septum sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring down at the sitting man.

Quirking an eyebrow, Xavien drawled out, "Would you like to see what I have thus far?"

"I would _love_ to," Septum answered sarcastically.

Standing up as if he hadn't heard the sarcasm, Xavien grabbed a white lab coat off a coat rack as he headed for the door, putting the coat on as he walked. "Follow me then, General. You'll be quite educated once you see what's been accomplished."

Snorting, Septum glared at Xavien but followed anyway. He towered over the man easily and yet this was one of the few people that the General wouldn't cross. His full name was Janus Hans Xavien, the founder, owner, and C.E.O. of X Associates, Incorporated, XAI for short, and probably one of the most politically powerful men on the planet. Despite looking harmless, he was incredibly ruthless and dangerous, responsible for a quarter of all political assassinations in the past ten years. It was fortunate that Xavien had focused his talents on the business world, else Septum would be out of a job…

He dogged after Xavien, his entourage nipping at his heels, as the man led him deeper into the underground complex. Xavien's pace was practiced, sure, confident, and experienced as he ultimately led the General and his entourage to an observation room which had an entire wall made solely out of a two-way mirror.

Seeing nothing, Septum looked at Xavien with a look that was asking if this was a joke. However, before he could say anything, Xavien stated, "Look down, General."

Following the direction, his eyes widened slightly. Long tables spread out across an enormous room, boys of all ages in groups or by themselves populating it. It wasn't just the presence of the boys that was wondrous, no. It was the fascinating sights that captivated him. From far up here he could see one boy juggling fire as if it was no mean feat while another occasionally blasted ice at a fireball. One boy was levitating two younger ones, letting the two fly around the room while they acted out a scene from a war movie, one that was on the tip of the General tongue.

Others, such as small fireworks, webbing, even wind dazzled the General and his entourage. Looking up at Xavien, Septum asked, awed, "Is this possible?"

"Better believe it," Xavien replied with no little pride. "This is just only the first batch General. Each and every one of them are not only being trained physically but mentally as well. A good soldier is one that can think on their toes and improvise, not a mindless robot that follows all orders to the letter. That is the reason why it is taking so long for your results. I don't deliver defective weapons, General."

"Do you know what we can do with them?" the General asked, still awed. "The possibilities are endless!"

"You don't even know the half of it," Xavien stated, smirking cruelly. "Once we are sure that all are stable, we will begin working on the next phase of the project."

"The next phase?" Septum asked, confused.

"Why just stop with creating super soldiers, such as these, when you can continue to create more of them through breeding? Haven't you noticed that there are _only_ males down there? All female subjects were unable to adjust or adapt to the results of the experiments. We are still trying to figure that one out, by the way, but think General. They are weapons that can not only fight for you but can continue to make more of them. By manipulating their thoughts at an early age, you can make them not only utterly loyal to you, but also the perfect cold-blooded killer. Imagine keeping all the good, healthy, _normal_ men at home while sending these tools out to do your dirty work?"

"Incredible," Septum whispered, looking up at Xavien. "This is a commander's wet dream!"

"It's that and more," Xavien agreed.

"Tell me, which ones are the closest to being completed?" Septum asked eagerly.

"#11085 and #12093," Xavien stated. "They are those two right…there."

"Which one is which?"

"You'll find out soon enough. You see, there is one last test for those two to undergo. In the next couple days, one of them will be dead and the other will have proven their self to be the perfect super soldier."

"So when should I expect something from you?"

"By the end of the week General. By then, most of the bugs will be ironed out and your weapon will be ready for duty. Hell, you can even demonstrate it in front of your colleagues if you wish."

Grinning wickedly at Xavien, Septum said, "I know I haven't said this to you before but you are a genius Xavien!"

"Oh stop!" Xavien replied in mock-modesty. "But seriously, General, you have yet to see the full scope of Project Maxwell. Allow me to show some of our other specimen."

Leading the way, Xavien smiled wickedly, enthused about being able to showcase his work to a receptive audience.


	3. Where'd You Get Those Peepers?

Author's Note: Longest chapter in this fic thus far but here is where things get interesting. I bet none of you were expecting Xavien to show up in the last chapter, now were you? Well, that brings me to something else. I am in need of cannon fodder, meaning, I need a lot OCs to kill off but I am having trouble coming up with them. That's where you, my reading audience comes in. Somewhere in this chapter is a reference to a previous fic of mine. If or when you review, I want you to tell me what part in the fic it was and what fic it is referring to. This is a first come, first serve basis and I will only accept one correct answer from one reviewer, maybe two if I feel like it. Should you guess correctly, I will contact you to tell you of your winning and with further instructions. Now, without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and I do not own Frank Sinatra's "_Jeepers Creepers_."

Warning: language

Where'd You Get Those Peepers?

His name was Mobias. No last name or anything else. Just Mobias.

Once upon a time, he had just been another street rat, barely scraping a living on the streets that he had known for all his life. He hated being weak, hated being victimized over and over again, especially whenever he had managed to find a niche for himself where he could be supreme and lord over others.

He didn't remember his family, that is if he ever had one. He had no friends, no one to watch his back as he stole from the vending carts that populated the streets, always getting the less desirable choices of breads, fruits, or vegetables.

When it seemed as if he couldn't fall any further, he had been given the chance to do something else. Actually, it had been more like forced but at this point in time, he didn't see it like that.

He had been plucked off the streets without a murmur and the next thing he knew, he was strapped to a table and was experiencing the most incredible pain he had ever felt in his entire life.

But it was worth it.

He was powerful now.

As a result of the pain, the crap that was pumped into him, he had become stronger, he had gain true power, something he took ever opportunity to flaunt.

Fire, the very element that now flowed through his veins, had become his weapon of choice. At first, he had had difficulty using it; hell, he had trouble summoning it at first with the exception of those spontaneous outbursts of course. But he had driven himself to master his new found powers and now, he was fire's master. He enjoyed tormenting those that were weaker than him and he used his obviously greater brains to not only outsmart his victims but get out of trouble and avoid the consequences of his actions.

Life was perfect now.

Or at least it was until that blond _fag_ had stolen his thunder.

He despised the one that called himself Solo. He had not only been the first to stand up to him but had knocked him off his pedestal of self-assurance. That Solo had everything that Mobias had wanted. Solo had not only been one of the first to be taken but also the first to survive the stuff that had been done to him. He was powerful, he was great, he was indestructible, much to his ire and fury, and yet he had the gall to _hate_ these great gifts that had been given to them.

He had all that he could ever want but he wanted nothing to do with them? The guy was a moron! How could he not like his new power?

Even on this day as he juggled his fire, letting one of his friends occasionally freeze one of the balls, he couldn't help but glare murderously at his one and only rival. Or should that be rivals since that other long-haired freak seemed to be popular with the boss guys.

However, he knew better than to cross either of them. He knew what would happen if he messed with one of them but the other he had only heard stories about, stories of horror at what he had done to those before. He cared too much for his precious butt to let himself end up dead so he had to contend himself with just watching them.

But one of these days, he would beat them. He would win and show them who was truly the best, who really deserved to be the favorite of everybody here.

He just had to wait, wait until the perfect moment came and then…

--

The "dining" hour had ended a while ago and Solo had felt the need to be by himself for a bit. So here he was in his cell, reading a passage from one of his smuggled fantasy novels. It was only when reading one of these fantastic tales that a real, genuine smile let itself grow on the blond's face as he enjoyed reading and imagining the actions and dialogue that created worlds so vast and extraordinary that the closest he could get to it would be through his dreams and dreams alone.

However, he couldn't concentrate and get too deeply involved with his book since he had noticed the obvious change in décor. Instead of the single cot, there were now two in the cell, confirming the tidbit of info that Kid had given him earlier that day.

So he was going to get a cellmate huh? Whoever it was better not get any high and mighty ideas about running the show in here else they were begging for a trip to the infirmary. He was in no mood for any of that crap at this point in time.

He would be damned if he let one of those idiots try and get the idea into their head that he would roll over for them.

Sensing his new roommate entering the cell, Solo hid his book out of sight, not wanting one of his favorite pastimes to be discovered. However, as it turned out, he probably needn't have done that.

It seemed the person he was to be sharing his cell with was Kid.

Giving the boy a small smile, he greeted, "Hey Kid. Ya gonna be my roomie?"

The boy leaned back out the cell entrance, looking at the cell room number before leaning back in with a confused expression. "It looks like it," he said as he moved further in at a slow pace and gingerly sat on the unoccupied cot.

His green eyes never left Kid, even as he let himself relax further on his cot. He had to admit that he couldn't have liked the situation better. Out of all the people here, he enjoyed the company that only Kid could give him. "You can relax ya know," he stated. "I'm not gonna bite ya, ya know."

"Yeah, Solo," Kid mumbled as shifted on his cot and made no other movement.

Letting the book he was holding drop onto his cot, Solo contented himself in just staring at the smaller boy, taking in the way the boy's muscles were tense, as if he was afraid of something. Maybe it was because this was the first time the boy was sharing a room with someone else? Yeah, that had to it, what with the way those violet eyes kept darting at him then shifting away just as quickly.

However, he didn't get up and try to comfort the boy who was obviously out of his element. He didn't really know how to comfort the boy; all he could be was receptive to whatever physical affection the boy had given to him or just be completely blunt which was how he said anything anyhow. The blunt approach just didn't seem…_right_ for this though so he just folded his arms and rested his chin on them, continuing to sprawl out on his cot, his eyes not leaving the braided boy.

Finally, Duo asked, "Why ya lookin' at me?"

"Nothin' else ta look at," Solo replied blandly.

"What about that?" Duo asked, gesturing to the forgotten book.

"Read it already, eleven times," Solo answered just as blandly as before.

"Then why were you…?"

"Nothin' else ta do."

For the next few hours, the two would continue on this vein, Duo always asking his quiet questions, Solo always answering them as if he answered such things all the time. It was only when the lights suddenly shut off that both knew it was curfew and that they were expected to sleep then. The only light that could be seen was that which managed to get through the crack under the heavy door that was now closed and audibly being locked. In only a few more minutes, not even that light would be available.

Shrugging to himself in the dark, Solo moved around on his cot, lifting up the too-thin blankets and slipping in under them, the sound of his book falling to the cold concrete floor reminding him of the object's presence. He would have to pick it up later before he left for the morning dinning hour.

Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he glanced over at his new roommate, raising an unseen eyebrow as he was able to make out the other boy still sitting on his cot, still in the same spot he had sat on the second he had come in.

"You know," he spoke, "I'm not gonna attack ya in ya sleep, right?"

For a moment, he heard nothing but then the sounds of the braided boy crawling under his own blankets came and Solo turned his face away to stare up through the darkness at the ceiling above. This was usually the time he reserved for pondering the mysteries of life or, in his own words, figuring out a way to get the hell out of this place and back into the world where the sun shown brightly. But, as always, he wouldn't ever get far, his mind always becoming blank, remaining like that until he fell into a dreamless sleep, which, by the way, wouldn't be happening for God knows how long.

However, the presence of Kid in the cell with him kinda threw things off. He was used to a set of things that he did every day, day in and day out, nothing ever changing. Nonetheless, it was throwing him off his rocker and time that would have been wasted thinking about getting out of here was more focused on the small body only mere feet away from him.

Questions like "is he doing all right?", "is he cold?", "does he need another blanket?" and others along this train of thought took up all of his concentration and he had to blink stupidly at himself to stop it. What was that all about? He couldn't really be concerned about Kid, could he? Look at him, he can get through those sessions and still stand up afterwards. Why should he, Solo, be concerned if he wasn't comfortable? And what was that annoying noise?

Wait, annoying noise? Again he blinked but raised his head up to stare in the general direction of where the door should be. That was new, he could hear some noise, not some rambling bunch of sounds, no, this was more smooth.

Could it be…music?

If he closed his eyes and strained his hearing hard enough, he found that he was able to make out some words.

_Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?_

_Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those eyes?_

How…corny could you get? What the hell was this? Jeepers? God, those assholes needed to get some taste or something. Now it was going to be harder to get to sleep with that annoying tune in his head. Damn them all to Hell! With a capital H!

Maybe he had been in this place too long or something but he was suddenly aware of a heat source right next to his cot. His old alarms in his head, the ones that screamed at him that there was a rapist right next to him, were screaming shrilly. So, in an old manner that he had ingrained into himself over time, Solo struck out with a fist, hitting nothing but air as the person that had snuck up on him dodged and then grabbed a hold of his wrist.

It was almost surreal how all his energy suddenly was zapped out of him and he flopped back onto his cot bonelessly. He was having trouble keeping his eyelids open, all the muscles in his body were slacking, and everything was suddenly so much colder than before. He had never felt anything like this before…

With great struggle, he managed to twist his head to a side and through slit eyes that were just beginning to sparkled with amber, he made out what seemed to be a crimson light above him, light that seemed to be coming from two…eyes?

_Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?_

_Oh, those weepers, how they hypnotize_

_Where'd you get those eyes?_

Gritting his teeth together and summoning all the strength he could get from his failing body, he somehow managed to throw another punch out, this time getting his assailant. He felt the hold on his wrist vanish and the sound of someone stumbling back, giving out a cry on pain that they weren't expecting. With his strength slowly beginning to return to him, Solo could only hope that whatever damage he had done, it would be enough to give him enough time to recuperate.

Funny, there was that word again, hope.

Rising up from his cot malevolently, ready to kick some ass, as much as he possibly could with the way he was feeling, Solo glared into the darkness before him, his now amber eyes giving off an unexpected light that brightened up the cell. What he found was Kid steadying himself against his own cot, a hand clutching at his bruised cheek.

Now that was unexpected yet it made sense. Kid was the only other person here but why would he attack him out of the blue all of a sudden? Now _that_ didn't make any sense. But then Kid looked up at him with his own glowing crimson eyes and those eyes did not show any of the shy and timid boy that Solo knew so well. Instead, those eyes were reflecting amusement and something else, something not so innocent, an unnerving smirk only serving to put the blond on his guard.

What in hell was going on?

And as if that wasn't enough, Kid just started chuckling. It was freaky.

"I couldn't have expected less," Kid commented whimsically, his voice slightly deeper and more confident than it usually was. "He wouldn't have liked you if you were anything but."

Needless to say, Solo had no idea what he was talking about and made his confusion known by voicing it. "What da hell are you talkin' 'bout?"

Instead of a chuckle, Solo received a full, blown out laugh. If anything, this served to send chills up his spine, something that hadn't happen since he had almost been caught by that rapist one time. All the muscles in his body were on full alert, tensing up so much that the blond was nearly trembling.

"And you speak so well!" Kid declared once he got his laughter under control. "I'm liking you more and more. He really does have good tastes when it comes to picking his friends."

"What does that mean?!" Solo demanded, his hands fisting so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "Who da hell are ya talkin' about?!"

"I'm talking about my other," Kid answered smugly, relaxing on the cot he was now sitting on.

"Other?"

"You know, Kid? The one guy who looks like he'll piss his pants if you look at him wrong?"

"But you're Kid!" the blond protested, gesturing wildly at him.

"Ah, ah, ah," the braided one gently reprimanded. "Not everything is as it seems, Solo boy! I am Kid but not quite Kid either. We share the same body but we're two different people, him and I."

Despite not grasping a hold of it in the beginning, no one could say that Solo didn't have a sharp mind. He had read enough of those fantasy books of his to get at least a clue of what Kid…er, this guy was talking about. "Are you sayin' ya got that multiple personality thing?"

"Ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" the braided one crowed in triumph, crimson eyes positively radiating with their eerie light.

Well…that was…wow…just…wow… As if his life wasn't screwed up enough, he has to find out that the one person who was the closest thing to a friend he ever had was not one but two people. This was just dandy. "So what do I call you?" he asked, feeling the tension slowly drain from his body, even though he still had his guard up. This side of Kid _had_ attacked him a few minutes ago.

"Name's Reaper," the other Kid stated, "but…I think trying to keep two name's in mind is gonna be tough, ain't it?" Those crimson eyes suddenly flashing with inspiration, he continued, "So instead of calling each of us by a different name, you can call us Duo."

Solo blinked then narrowed his eyes. "Hey, you're rippin' off my name!" he accused.

"Oh, I don't see your copyright on it, blondie," Reaper…er Duo snarked back, grinning wickedly at him. Inwardly…okay, okay, visibly Solo bristled at the insult.

"Don't call me blondie, shorty!" he snapped.

This time it was Duo who was insulted. "Airhead!" he insulted back.

"Short Stuff!" Solo fired.

"Tree Trunk!"

"You know what they say about big feet, pipsqueak?"

Duo's fingers twitched. "Do you want to die?" he snarled.

"As if," Solo taunted. "I could hold you back with one hand on your forehead."

Instead of insulting back, Duo threw his head back and laughed out loud again, that manic laugh creeping the blond out once more. "Haven't you been paying attention to anything?" Duo questioned. "I just need to touch a part of you and voila, it's over!"

Solo's eye twitched. Okay, he didn't really want to remember ten minutes ago when he was laying on his back near death or whatever it was that was going on. What was going on then anyway? He hadn't been that helpless since he had first been abandoned.

His curiosity winning over his inflamed anger, he demanded, "What were ya doin' back there anyway?"

"What? You think I didn't get anything out of those experiments those lab rats have been putting us through?" Duo countered.

"I assumed that ya did but what did you get out it?" Solo clarified.

That answering smirk did nothing to put the blond at ease. "I sped up time," Duo answered, his crimson eyes now glowing malevolently.

"Sped up time?" Solo repeated.

"Yeah, it has a nasty side effect on people," Duo shrugged nonchalantly. "Makes them feel like they're dying, which is exactly what's going on. Since everybody is mortal, by speeding up the rate in which their life force diminishes over time, I basically give them a touch of death that's usually fatal."

Death. No matter had old he would get, that one word held so much implication to the blond. "So what you're saying is that you can kill people by touchin' them?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"He can be taught!" Duo exclaimed, cackling.

"You're crazy," Solo accused, moving as far back away from the braided one as he possibly could.

"Hey, you think that your precious Kid could have survived all that stuff that was done to us?" Duo suddenly snapped, eyes flaring. "No, he wouldn't have been able to. You can't tell me that you didn't wonder how it was that we were still alive all this time. My other created me when he was strapped down to that table and they were pumping him full of that stuff. I can do what he can't, I can take as much pain that they can dish out at us and live to tell about it."

That made sense, too much sense if you asked Solo. It did explain how Kid had been able to walk out of that room with only the minimal amount of assistance. But why had this other Kid…Reaper…Duo waited to make himself known now? Couldn't he have done it ages ago?

If he hadn't known better, he would have assumed that the braided one was a mindreader as he suddenly answered that question that had just popped up in his mind aloud.

"You hear that music?" Duo asked, tilted his head to a side and closing his eyes.

Yeah…he could still hear it, that Jeepers Creepers shit. But what was so special about it?

"They conditioned us," Duo suddenly spoke, startling the blond, much to his ire. "You, me, all the others, we're weapons. Ever since before Kid started to stick around you, the lab rats were doing some mind control crap to our brain. Whenever that song is played, we lose control and…something else takes over. We can't help it…"

"It makes you want to kill the closest thing to you, doesn't it?" Solo guessed, amazed at suddenly hearing the unease it the cocky asshole's voice. He didn't know whether or not to be smug over it or scared.

"Yes," Duo hissed, confirming the blond's suspicion. "We hate it. Kid because he doesn't understand what it is and afraid that…well, I'll let him tell you that later. I hate it because I have no control over it. I'm weak, helpless…" His crimson eyes suddenly blazing again, he spat venomously, "I _hate_ that."

It was in that moment as he watched the other that Solo recognized that he had a kinsman of sorts. Here was somebody just like him who hated what was being done to them, somebody who he could confide it, perhaps even someone he could trust?

"Have ya ever thought about leavin' this place?" he asked of the braided one. "You know, escapin'?"

Those eyes turning towards him, there was a look of contemplation on the confident face of Duo's. Funny, he was beginning to see the person across from him not as Kid anymore and Kid was the closest thing he had to a friend ever. What did that say about him?

"You know," Duo spoke, "I've never really given that any thought."

Solo almost fell down. He had to be kidding him! Honestly! How could he not think about getting out of this place and back out into the real world, away from all this crap? Maybe he was giving this guy too much credit…

"But now that you mention it, it does sound like a good idea," Duo continued blithely.

Well, at least that was a start. Now to figure out a way to go about doing it.

"Ready to go?"

Solo blinked in confusion. "What?"

"No time like the present," Duo shrugged, standing up and stretching his arms.

"You mean…you're gonna to try now?" Solo exclaimed.

"Is that a problem?"

"No one's ever done it!" Solo cried out.

"Maybe that's because nobody has tried," Duo teased. Walking to the door of their cell, he laid a hand on the cold metal casually.

The next few minutes were incredible, at least to Solo they were. Watching with his amber eyes wide open, he stared as rust began to spread from beneath Duo's hand and expand to cover the entire thing. Shooting a smirk at him from over his shoulder, Duo then pressed lightly. The door fell forward off its hinges, the lock no longer being able to keep it shut, and collapsed noisily against the opposite wall and the floor.

Solo stared bug-eyed, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Yo!" Duo shot to him. "If you wanna get out of here, now's the time, blondie. Move it!"


	4. Fun Times as Juggernauts

Author's Note: For those of you who did not get the reference in the last chapter, I was referring to Both Sides of the Tracks, specifically the part with the "insults": "Short Stuff/Tree Trunk." I Have to say I'm a bit disappointed as only one person got it and let me know, that being Archsage Soren. Now, there's another reference to one of my previous fics in this chapter and it's not going to be as easy to spot as the last one. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, graphic violence (should I raise the rating?), death, you name it, this chapter probably has it

Fun Times as Juggernauts

If you were to ask Solo what he would have thought an escape attempt would have been like, he would have expected it to be planned out, like something from a spy movie or one of those prison escape TV shows he had once seen when he still lived out on the streets. Sadly, what he was doing now was anything but.

It was spontaneous, not thought out, and chaotic. Well, maybe not chaotic but it was still pretty nerve wracking.

Apparently, the assholes in charge had gotten lazy and didn't expect for any of them to try such a thing as they were doing. So as soon as he took his first step through the threshold of his cell, Solo was stunned not to hear any alarms going off. What he did hear instead was the sound of bare feet padding on the cold floor, moving away from their cell and towards the commons area.

It seemed like Duo wasn't going to wait up for him and this fact fully impacted the blond the moment he saw the end of Duo's braid disappear around a corner. Like hell he was being left behind!

Jumping into action, he chased after his partner in crime, catching up with him in no time. Much to his annoyance, Duo was shushing him the moment he did catch up, saying that he was going to get them caught. He chose not to argue, at least not right now. First thing was first and that was to get the hell out of this place as soon as possible.

They had only reached the commons area where the alarm finally began to blare, red lights engulfing everything in their tint.

"Here they come," Duo commented dryly.

"I think I could figure that one out by myself," Solo grumbled back but raised his fists up, ready to take on whatever was going to be thrown at them.

They didn't have to wait long.

A hidden entrance in one of the walls opened, surprising both the boys as the security forces poured in. Each of the uniformed men held what looked like to be sawed off shotguns but were just oversized tazer guns. Unfortunately, Solo had seen them used once and they were quite effective. They were screwed.

"What's your power again?" Duo questioned quickly.

"Invulnerability," Solo answered back just as quickly.

"I got an idea, get in front of me!" Duo ordered.

Taking his eyes off the guards to glare at the braided one, Solo was about to snap out a retort only to be interrupted as Duo pulled him in front of him. Great, now he was a human shield. As if this day couldn't get any better.

He could hear the tazers being fired and could barely feel them against his back. However, the fact that he wasn't being electrocuted surprised the blond enough to peek over his shoulder. What he saw was the small projectiles being shot at them were hitting something and going through it but cracking all over and shattering against his hard back, not getting any grip on him.

"Shield!" he heard Duo shout gleefully in his ear. "I'm aging those things before they can hit!"

"Well that's just swell!" Solo retorted. "But how's that gonna help us out if we get surrounded?"

Smirking, Duo replied, "Watch."

The barrier of time that was the only thing protecting the two boys suddenly shot out and impacted all guards in front of them, the men finding themselves flying backwards as they were hit with nothing but solid time.

"Go have some fun with them," Duo winked at him.

Looking over at the recovering men, it took just about a second for his mind to make a connection and a wicked grin split his face. Have fun, eh? He could do that…

It had been a while since he had called on these aspects of his forced-upon-him abilities and the last time had involved a fight with one of the other boys. Since he and Duo began to hang around each other, most if not all physical fights he participated in had stopped altogether. Now that he was about to call upon these abilities, though, he couldn't have chosen a better target than the fools that happened to be in his way towards freedom.

Leg muscles flexing, he shot off like a rocket, covering the space between him and the guards in less than a second. He threw his fists in front on him, just as he was about to encounter the unawares guards. Each fist impacted an unfortunate soul and he could feel the bones in the men's bodies give way. Skidding on his bare feet, he let the two men he had punch literally fly away from him, their frail bodies hitting up against the commons area wall harshly. He twisted his waist and grabbed hold of the nearest leg of a guard and began to use him as a club, slamming him against his own comrades and sending them fly away.

Blood splattered against him but he took no heed of it as his amber eyes were glowing brightly with bloodlust. After clubbing two more men with his human club, he tossed the broken body away and bounded over towards the secret entrance where some guards were trying to escape, attempting to shut the door behind them. Catching the much larger and much heavier door just as it was about to close, Solo braced his legs and pulled the door back, tearing it off from the wall that it had been attached to with his impressive strength.

Shifting the torn piece of metal so that it was now parallel with the floor, he used the former door as a battle ram, those unlucky enough to be in the way…well, lets just say they'd seen better days. Despite going through the initial resistance, which consisted of only a few human bodies, Solo continued his charge down the previously unknown hallway and up the flight of stairs that it contained as the bloodlust that had taken over him urged him to do more. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, it didn't really matter as some more unfortunate guards found themselves impaled by the crumpling metal door and seconds later trampled by the blond juggernaut that Solo had become.

From behind, Duo trailed after him, uncaring that he was treading through growing pools of blood. With a careless smile on his face, he surrounded himself with an aura of death, that is to say sped up time; all those who were still alive felt their last moments sucked out of them, their bodies unable to withstand the phenomenon and causing them to explode into dust. Dust settled on the floor, the passage nothing but a rusting tunnel.

The screams and cries of the unsuspecting scientists were like music to the braided one's ears as he finished climbing the stairs and exiting the passageway, dutifully taking in the scene of carnage he found. Bodies littered the floor, both guards and scientists along with what seemed to be secretaries and the like. He spied the remains of the hidden door that Solo had appropriated earlier, the twisted piece of metal resting against a wall. Turning his head, he didn't have to look far to see where Solo was, finishing off two helpless victims by bashing their heads together hard enough that…well…brains were involved with the mess that resulted.

Sticking a pointer finger and thumb in his mouth, Duo whistled shrilly, causing Solo to jerk his attention to him.

"I thought we were trying to escape, remember?" Duo said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest in mock-impatience.

Blinking his amber eyes, Solo looked back to the two corpses he still held, his mind finally grasping onto what Duo had said. "Oh, right."

Huffing, Duo started towards a random hallway. Just as he was about to leave the room they were in, he waved a hand from his crossed arms, sending a flood of time down the corridor and freezing everything down it into one single second. Without further mind to the massacre behind him, Duo set out down the hall, Solo following him a minute later leaving footprints stained in blood behind. The blond's ire sparked as he noticed several people he passed frozen still. His bloody knuckles, none of the blood his, twitched, wanting to find themselves slamming into some more human bodies.

"Well what do we have here?" Duo mused aloud, stopping all of a sudden. His head was turned, facing what looked to be an elevator, the doors to the hanging chamber shut. Glancing back at the taller blond behind him, he asked, "Could you?"

Catching the gist of the request, Solo lumbered to the elevator, sliding his fingers into the crack of the doors and prying them open easily with his raw strength.

"Ah, nothing like the sterile smell of one of these things," Duo commented, stepping around the blond and into the elevator. "Going up?" he jested, eyeing his blood soaked comrade with humor in his crimson eyes.

"Ha, ha, ha," Solo muttered, getting in nonetheless.

One minute later, they were still where they were, the elevator's doors not even shut or even raising up.

"Goddamn it," Duo swore. "Now what?"

Shaking his head since he still had some knowledge about the thing they were in, Solo punched the roof hatch off the contraption and climbed up and onto the top of the elevator.

"A little help here?" Duo called up, glaring up at the hatchless exit. "Not all of us are homicidal monkeys, ya know? And last that I recall, I ain't like that ass Copy Chris."

Solo's hand and arm snaked back in, the braided one latching on and finding the air around him rushing as he was pulled up through the hatch. Blinking in confusion as his mind sought to make sense of where he was, Solo tugged at the cables that held the elevator, making sure not to use too much strength. Didn't want to get killed now that they had gotten this far.

Suddenly, the elevator shook and began to rise. Solo hastily let go of the cables, not wanting to burn his hands from the thick moving wires.

"What the hell is…?" Duo exclaimed.

Solo did not answer immediately, instead looking straight up. The darkness of the shaft above them was retreating and it wasn't long before he could see the top of the shaft. "They're gonna try and squish us," he said calmly.

"Really, ya think?!" Duo said sarcastically, now looking up as well.

"Like HELL they are!" Solo roared and shot his hands up above his head.

"Of all the people to choose, he had to pick someone crazy as you!" Duo cried out as it looked as if they were living the last minutes of their lives. It did not occur to Duo to try and go back into the elevator since that open hatch was still there.

The impact of Solo's hands slamming into the roof of the shaft was violent and Duo found himself almost falling off. However, much to his amazement, Duo saw that Solo was still as ramrod straight as he had been a minute ago. True, the blond's beefy arms were trembling with strain as the mechanism operating the elevator was also still trying to do its function, that being to pull the elevator up.

"Hey!" Solo snapped, the strain from resisting the power of a machine audible in his voice. "Can ya do somethin' other than sit there?! Break this thing off!"

His eyes wide, Duo looked around frantically, trying to figure out what the blond meant.

"Break the lift off!" Solo roared.

Looking to where the cables were attached to the elevator beneath them, Duo placed his hand there and began to work his magic. In no time at all, there was rust and an ominous sound of something breaking and snapping.

"Hold on!" Solo bellowed just as the elevator broke free from the cables and began to plummet down the shaft. Duo threw his arms around the blond just as said blond's legs lowered then pushed up, Solo jumping upwards with as much force as he could under the circumstances.

A bone jarring stop caused Duo's teeth to rattle but he still managed to retain his hold on Solo's waist, his feet dangling over a dark pit where he could literally hear the sound of the metal box they had been standing on only a moment before fall. Cracking open an eye, he found that Solo was balancing on his toes on a very thin ledge, a ledge just in front of a set of doors identical to the ones Solo had pried open earlier. Just as before, Solo broke these doors open and practically fell forwards into the outside world. Because his hold on the blond had caused him to slip down to his knees, Duo had to pull himself the rest of the way out of the shaft since he hadn't gone far.

This guy sure had a way of showing gratitude, didn't he?

--

They had done it…they had really done it! They were outside, out of that damn place at long last!

Solo could feel the cold air of the night against his skin, a feeling that sent a shiver down his spine. His dream…it had finally come true!

Then he took a look around and nearly groaned to himself out loud. Oh, this was great, just _perfect_. Damn it, he hadn't known that they were in the middle of a fucking desert! They were in the middle of fucking nowhere!

"So this…is the outside world, huh?" Duo said aloud, wonder in his voice. "It looks like a dump," he added lamely.

"That's because we're in a desert, moron!" Solo snapped. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse!

Duo yawned…loudly. "Well, I'm spent!" he said cheerfully. "I think I'm gonna get some rest. Have fun now!"

"Oh hell no!" Solo swore as he watched in near horror as Duo's eyes faded from their unusual crimson to their ordinary violet.

Kid was back in control.

"Solo?" the braided boy asked, his eyes blinking sleepily. "What's goin' on?"

Solo heaved a large sigh. Well, there was nothing else he could do right now besides get them the hell away from here as fast as he possibly could. He pushed himself up off the concrete ground, yet still crouching as he motioned for Kid, no, Duo to come closer.

"Get on my back," he instructed to the wide-eyed boy. "Make sure you hold on tight."

"What are ya talkin' 'bout, Solo? Where are we?" the braided boy questioned, uncertainty clouding his sleep-ridden eyes.

"We're getting out of here," he grinned at the boy, hoping that that was comforting.

"Okay…" Duo said unsurely, and climbed up onto Solo's broad back, wrapping his arms around Solo's thick neck.

"Ready?" he asked, his legs tensing.

The braided boy nodded his head, the blond's hair tickling his cheek.

His legs pushing downwards, the blond rocketed straight ahead into the open desert.

He just knew this was going to be a long night…


	5. Please Don't Die!

Author's Note: Last chapter's reference was when Duo mentioned Copy Chris, a mentioned OC in the fic Criss Cross who didn't make a physical appearance. ShadowMajin got the closest to getting it right. Now, this next reference is going to take after the last one, being that it's a person. Can any of you get this one right? And please, can I get more guesses this time around? A person can only have so much fun with two other people… Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Please Don't Die!

Xavien observed dispassionately at the mess that his facility had become. Even now as the clean up crews were scrambling to clean the place up and others were working on sealing up the hidden hallway to his weapons' commons area, the man stood in the midst of it, uncaring if he was in the way or standing in a pool of blood left over from last night, which he currently was doing.

Within him, though, two different feelings warred for supremacy. One was a feeling of pride at seeing first hand what one of his weapons could do. The other was fury at what had occurred only hours ago, something he had been assured would never happen. He couldn't settle on which one but he had called a meeting in which he was late for so maybe that might help him out.

His brown trench coat billowed behind him as he suddenly moved, much to everyone else's fear. He marched through the remnants of the carnage without a second thought, literally stepping on bodies of his dead employees, dismissing the respect that one would normally give to the deceased, leaving behind only a trail of bloody footprints. He made a mental note to find out the total number of casualties and injuries; it would give him a good idea as to just how far Project Maxwell had progressed.

Whether or not Septum would be pleased about this, he had no idea but was not going to think of that anytime soon.

He had chosen a boardroom that had a nice view of the messy commons area for this meeting. That way, if anyone tried to deny or claim that last night wasn't real, the proof would just be outside the two-way mirror. Also, it would make him seem more imposing when he demanded his answers.

He burst through the doors without fanfare, startling the boardroom's inhabitants. Despite the different colors of his eyes, both were clouded with his not unheard of rage that was just begging to be released and released soon. He continued his death march up until he reached the mirrors and gaze out at the new angle of the commons area that he had been presented. Hmm, they were going to have to replace a few of those tables…

"Gentlemen!" he began calmly, smirking to himself as he heard the sounds of his staff jumping in surprise. Turning around to face them all, he continued, "Would someone kindly explain to me what happened here?"

All at once, everyone began to talk, trying to prove either themselves as innocent or blaming someone else for this. Amidst the ruckus, Xavien stood there before shaking his head and taking seat. Still his staff vied for his mercy and slowly he began to become annoyed with them. He developed a tic in his left eye, his green eye, but it seemed like that warning sign was ignored.

_Do I have to do everything myself?_ Xavien thought to himself just before pulling out a gun and firing at the ceiling. This effectively shut everyone up.

"Lets start from the beginning, shall we?" Xavien suggested lightly, lowering his gun. "Or maybe…it should be the end?" he added, pondering his choice of words. "It's fairly obvious that one of our weapons has decided to go rogue or has malfunctioned. If I recall correctly, we were also administering that final test last night as well. So someone, please, tell me what were the results of that test? Is it #11085 who is dead or is it #12093? Talk to me people."

"About that…" one began, a young man that Xavien mentally identified as "Freddy" Quentin, "We…haven't found any trace of either 11085 or 12093. Their cell is wide open and there didn't seem to be any trace of any struggle inside the cell that we could tell."

"What, there's no blood? No dust?" Xavien inquired. "Do you think they may have taken their fight out of the cell?"

"We only found the door…or what was left of it," Quentin admitted sheepishly. "But there were no signs of a struggle in the hallway either and I don't think that 12093 would have let 11085 get as far as the commons area without some sort of damage along the way."

Xavien absorbed this information and looked at it from all angles. Since he hadn't been down to the cells area, he could only take Quentin's word on it, for now at least. Then an idea clicked in his mind. They had cameras all over the place, monitoring the weapons' behaviors and making sure that none would try anything without their knowing of it first. That should mean that they had some record of what happened in that cell.

"What about the footage?" he asked, much to his staff's confusion. Frowning at this, he elaborated, "We have cameras all over this place. There should be some recording of what happened last night." Xavien's frown only intensified as he saw how uncomfortable his staff had become at his words. Did they know something he didn't? "What?" he demanded.

"About that…" someone else spoke up hesitantly.

"What is it you are not telling me?" Xavien asked, his voice becoming ominously soft.

"It is true that we have cameras set up everywhere in the facility," the unfortunate man blurted out, desperately seeking to lessen some sort of blow that was inevitably going to fall. "We can monitor everything here."

"Just spit it out," Xavien ordered.

"…we…don't have any…monitoring equipment…set up in the cells," the man finally said.

Xavien only stared at the man, the silence ensuing setting everybody on edge. "And who exactly was in charge of setting up security here?" Xavien finally asked.

"Me…sir," the man answered.

"Really?" Xavien replied, his eyebrows rising. Then without warning, he raised his gun up and fired another shot, the bullet cutting through the air and into the man's skull and brain. As the body slumped, Xavien abandoned all pretenses of a calm demeanor as he glared at his staff, his feelings of fury triumphing over his earlier pride. "I do not care how you go about it," he uttered malevolently, "I do not care who you have to kill or what you have to destroy but I want those weapons found and I want them returned, _alive_, gentlemen. On another note, I want 'monitoring equipment' installed in all the cells while you're at it. Now go."

When no one moved to do his bidding, Xavien's face twisted into an expression of fury and he roared, "NOW!"

That had the effect of emptying the boardroom in seconds, Xavien finding himself all alone now with a corpse.

"What do you have to do to get good help nowadays?" Xavien sighed to the dead body as he slumped back into his chair.

---

It was a beautiful thing, you know, to see the sun rising while in the middle of a barren wasteland. Yet for Solo, who hadn't seen the sun in who knew how long, it was more than beautiful, mere words couldn't describe it.

After seeing nothing but the cold grey walls that had surrounded not only him but Ki—Duo for so long, to see such colors, despite the fact they were pale, it just made him giddy from it all. Even if he did drop dead from exhaustion right now, it would have been _worth_ it.

Nonetheless, exhausted was the key word here. Hey, you try running all night through a desert without stopping once and see how well you come out of it. So what if the desert itself was nothing more than dried out ground and no sand; so what if his endurance had increased since he had last been outside; it made no difference as he was heaving his lungs out, gasping for air as he finally allowed himself to collapse onto the hard ground below him.

"Solo? Are you all right?"

Huh, Duo was awake after all. Sometime during his flight, he had felt the braided boy nod off for sometime. Not that it made it easier carrying him, mind you. It was just he suddenly had some dead weight on him, that was all, and one could only go so far like that.

"Go on without me," he wheezed melodramatically. "I can't go any longer. Save yourself."

"Solo, don't talk like that!" Duo exclaimed, removing himself from Solo's back and shaking him, trying to coax him to do something other than lie there.

"I'm done for," Solo moaned. "Go, while ya still can…"

"No Solo! Please don't die!" Duo cried.

Solo made no more movement, having not enough energy to do anything anyway. All he felt like was just laying there and falling into a deep, dark sleep and stay that way for a hundred years, maybe. He could feel his heart breaking, even as it pounding in his chest, pumping blood hastily though his body, as he heard Duo cries and even though he wanted to do something, he just couldn't…

Okay, he could hear Duo walking away, just like he told him to. Took him a while, hadn't it? Well, at least he knew Kid was going to make it. He had that other personality, hadn't he? He would make it, of that he was positive.

"Solo!" He heard the sound of bare feet running back towards him and something begin to shake him urgently. "Solo get up! You gotta get up!"

Solo moaned aloud. What was it going to take to get through this kid's head? Honestly! Couldn't a guy die in peace already?

"C'mon Solo! You gotta see this! C'mon, get up! Please!"

"OKAY!" Solo bellowed as he tiredly pushed himself up, glaring daggers at the braided boy as he did so. "I'm up! Okay!? Jeez!"

"Hurry Solo!" Duo urged, not in the least intimidated. The boy had a hold of his hand and was trying to pull him in the direction he wanted with all the impatience of, well, a boy.

"Where's the fire?" Solo mumbled as he got up on his unsteady feet and trudged after Duo going at his own pace, no matter how insistent the boy became. It wasn't like he was doing this willingly, you know?

Duo led him maybe a hundred feet or so, pointing and jumping excitedly at what lay before them just over a rise in the terrain. Looking up to where the braided boy was gesturing, Solo's green eyes widened as he saw something just as good as seeing a sunrise early in the morning.

It was a town. In the middle of this Godforsaken place, there was a fucking town of all things! It was at this moment that Solo was able to dredge up some last dregs of energy that he didn't know he had, a large grin splitting his face almost in half. Oh how he could just kiss Duo right now…but he wouldn't be doing that since it would make things weird.

"Kid, have I ever told you I love you?" he said aloud, the grin on his face not disappearing for a second.

"Uh, Solo? What's love?"

Solo blinked and looked at Duo who was looking up at him oh so innocently. He could see that the kid honestly had no clue.

"It's…uh…it's…like! It's when you like someone a whole lot!" Solo answered, grasping onto whatever words he could.

"Oh, okay," Duo said before saying, "I love you too Solo"

Ugh, maybe he should have just stuck with the kissing. It couldn't be half as weird as this, right?

---

Boulder was a simple town, a place where nothing happened, where if one wanted entertainment, they'd have to go to the nearest city. Of course, the nearest city was a couple hours away and that was just driving at the speed limit.

Living and growing up in Boulder were two different things. If you were a teen, this place would be like Hell on Earth. Unless you counted cow tipping as a sport, which even then the pasture land here sucked like hell, then yeah, it was dull. However, despite being far from any large cities, it had its own high school where teens from other nearby towns would have to go to if they wanted an education.

As for the rest of the residents of Boulder, they were wrapped up in themselves and true conservatives when it came to government, which is to say the less government the better. They didn't like it when things got out of control, the only thing really up in that category being the noise complaints about a party a high schooler was holding.

You got the idea by now, don't you?

So when two strange youths wandered into the town, no one took any notice. Their lives were already perfect; why should they care about something like that? As long as nothing happened, then no one would even know they had been there.

Needless to say, that tranquility was about to be torn asunder.


	6. Denizens of Boulder

Author's Note: Last chapter's reference was none other than "Freddy" Quentin, a.k.a. Quentin from "The Deathdealer" seeing as he hasn't been introduced to "The Eternal Encore" yet. Since ShadowMajin was the first to get first, congradulations, etc, etc... Now, come on people. Give some guesses with your reviews, hell, leave a review when you're done reading this chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Denizens of Boulder

Dorothy Catalonia was a girl that liked excitement. To say that living in Boulder was a torture in and of itself was a simple understatement. She was a pretty girl with long blonde hair the color of cornflowers and eyes a shade of blue that many claimed was the exact color of the sky. Her body was what many considered to be "sexy" with all the right curves, the right sized bust, the tightest and roundest ass that any female in Boulder had ever possessed. If there was a flaw that her revered looks had, it would probably be that her eye brows were forked, giving her a more stern look than even the strictest teacher had.

Maybe that's why many of the prospective males in this school set their sights on her best friend, Relena Darlain. Relena was also a blonde but of a darker shade and even though she seemed to give off a vibe that could creep anybody out, she was still the most sought after female in Boulder High School. It shouldn't be any surprise that the two girls had grown up with one another since infancy. After all, this was Boulder we're talking about.

So, both girls had their pick of the litter when it came to boyfriends. Dorothy currently did not have one while Relena was in the second year of one which involved the captain of the football team, the only Asian youth in all of Boulder and perhaps in a three hundred mile radius, Heero Yuy.

Heero was a strong and silent boy, no doubt about it and he knew it as well. Somehow, or another, the Japanese teen hadn't let it get to his head. If anything, he was shy but he covered that up by trying to seem antisocial, a defense that worked quite well as far as Dorothy could see. Heero's uncharacteristic blue eyes certainly helped him out in that regard and his messy brown hair allowed him to cover his face as long as he bowed his head down.

Needless to say, these two girls and boy were at the top of the student social ladder. Every girl and boy wanted to be with them, near them, even _be_ them.

Now, this would go over well with Dorothy except that she hated the town that her parents had relocated to years ago. Something about pissing off a relative or something and whoever it was wouldn't think to look for them in a Godforsaken town like Boulder.

If she could, she would burst out into song like in those gay musical films but that was too Disney and she hated Disney with a passion. She'd rather make commentary during a bad horror film than watch something from Disney…

Anyway, currently, it was in the middle of the afternoon, or at least the class right after lunch, and Dorothy could not see an end for this day in sight. Ah, to be bored in a boring room in a boring building in a boring town in a boring country… Kinda makes you want to commit suicide, doesn't it? Well, that thought would be the furthest thing away in her mind since she was just too stubborn to even think about it.

The teacher was droning on and on about who knows what, she hadn't been paying attention. She could see Relena in the desk right next to her almost nodding off into slumber and her mouth twisted upwards into an amused smile. At least that was able to occupy her mind for a bit. Of course, if she looked around at her fellow students, she would have undoubtedly seen others in the same position as Relena. But to top all of that off, the teacher herself wasn't paying one bit of attention to her class, she was that wrapped up in her lesson plan.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, she could have sworn she just saw the clock hand tick _backwards_.

Just how was she going to pass the time away?

Glancing over back at Relena, an idea occurred to her that just might provide her with some entertainment, even if it was only for a few seconds. She quickly scrawled out a small note and, as quietly as she could, crumpled it into a small paper ball and throwing it at her best friend. The ball bounced off the blonde girl's head and fell to rest on her desk but the desired effect had been accomplished. Relena blinked out of her sleepy stupor and glanced down at the paper ball and began to uncrumple it. Dorothy could see her friend's eyes move left from right and then her face lighting up with a red blush.

Recrumpling the piece of paper, Relena threw Dorothy an unamused glare which Dorothy only grinned suggestively back at her, causing her to blush even deeper.

And all through the midst of this, their teacher had no clue as to what was going on behind her back.

---

It had not just been a long day for Dorothy as other students would attest to. Heero was one of those teens and when the final bell rang, he was one of the first out of his seat and in the hallways.

This made him one of the first out of the school building and out into the scorching sun. However, he couldn't go much further as he had promised Relena that he'd walk her home after school. At the thought of his girlfriend, he struggled to hide, successfully, a blush. How is it that such a small girl could do this to him? Maybe Relena had a point with all that stuff she spouted off about true love.

Unlike most of the teenagers in this town, Heero was pretty much satisfied with his life. There was no unpredictability, just the way he liked it, everything remaining the same… Nothing was as hectic as it was in a big city; everybody was laid back in a town like Boulder, always taking their time doing things.

He could already see it. There it was, the house with the white picket fence and two point five children, Relena right next to him as his soul mate and wife…

Now that was a future that he looked forward to.

He let the traces of a smile out as he caught sight of his beloved coming out, debating heatedly with her best friend Dorothy. What did the Catalonia girl do this time? Probably something immature. Heero shook his head at that. When was Dorothy going to get the clue that no matter how much she didn't like it here, she was going to end up here in the end?

"Heero!" he heard Relena greet him and he let his thoughts go as he turned all his attention towards pleasing the woman of his life. He swept her into a hug and chastely kissed her lips, earning a giggle from the small girl.

"Get a room you two," he overheard Dorothy grumble but he made no comment about it. Relena was the important one here.

"You're just jealous," Relena teased as she pecked Heero on his lips once more before leaving his embrace but grasping his hand and intertwining her fingers with his.

"As if," Dorothy rolled her eyes and started setting out to get off of school property. Heero just shrugged at Relena and began to lead her after her best friend. It didn't take the Asian youth long to realize that Dorothy wasn't heading towards home but to main street and when he tried to stop, he found that Relena had continued to walk after Dorothy until her arm pulled back.

Looking back at Heero in confusion, her eyes suddenly lit up as if she just remembered something. "Oh! Sorry Heero but Dorothy and I had made plans to go shopping this afternoon. Would you like to come?"

Heero answered like any other heterosexual man would. "If you want me to come…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Relena said uneasily but just like a man, Heero took the opportunity presented to him.

"I wouldn't want to slow you down or anything so I guess I'll just…" Heero paused, trying to find the right word before he continued, "I guess I'll go on home then. I'll walk you home tomorrow. Is that all right?"

Relena simply pecked him on the lips and said, "Deal." Then she turned and skipped off to catch up with Dorothy who had stopped a ways off and was waiting for her impatiently.

The smile on Heero's face did not even waver as he watched the silhouette of his girlfriend shrink the further she went away from him.

---

It didn't take very long for Heero to reach his house after he had parted ways with Relena and Dorothy. Despite the heat of the day, he had taken his time walking home and by the time he reached the front door, he was beginning to perspire as his body sought to cool itself off.

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door with the quickness born from habit and shut the wooden barrier behind him, the blessed feeling of cool air-conditioned air flowing over him. Locking the door behind him, he immediately went to the nearby security control panel that controlled the house's security system and punched in the code so that it wouldn't go off and make a racket.

However, he heard no answering beeping sound, not even when he punched in the code. He tapped on the devise and frowned when he got no response. Damn ADT! Looks like he was going to have to tell his parents about this once they got back.

Allowing himself one luxury of laziness, he tossed his backpack to a side, making a mental note to pick it up before his parents arrived and headed towards the living room and from there the kitchen. He froze just outside of the living room, though, when he caught sight of something that he knew didn't belong here.

There, sitting on the couch was a brunet boy with a long braid who was rapidly going through the television channels so quickly that barely a sound was coming out from the appliance. Heero knew for a fact that he was an only child and his father had no other children from another marriage. So what was this runt doing here in _his_ house?

He hadn't even made a sound when the boy's vivid violet eyes suddenly snapped up and captured his Prussian blue ones and the teen was sure that he saw what looked like fear flicker through those wide eyes. The boy's hand reached out and began shaking something, or in this case some_one_, who happened to be sleeping on the couch next to him. Heero blinked and wondered how he could have missed that one.

"What's a guy gotta do 'round here ta get some shut eye?" the other male groaned and lifted his head, his sleepy green eyes landing on Heero.

Suddenly, those eyes weren't so sleepy anymore.

"_Fuck_!" the blond male swore as he practically flew from the couch and charge at him. It was only then that Heero saw how much bigger the other male was.

Well shit. He would be damned if he didn't put up some kind of fight.

---

"You think Heero will like what I got him?" Relena squealed as she held one of her bags tightly up against her body.

"I'm sure he will," Dorothy answered indulgently, refraining from rolling her eyes at the way her best friend was acting. "He always likes whatever you give him," she assured her.

Relena could only giggle in reply and Dorothy could only sigh. Was this what it was like when you were in love? Well, they could count her out. It seemed like just a big waste of time. God help her if she acted like _that_.

"I know! Why don't we go over to Heero's and give it to him now?" Relena suggested, her eyes lighting up.

"How about we don't do that and you can give it to him tomorrow?" Dorothy answered.

But Relena would not be swayed, not this time. "No, lets go over now! Oh, he's just going to love this!"

Once again, Dorothy sighed.

---

God, of all the times their luck had to sour, why'd it have to be now?

Sneaking into this town had been easy, too easy in fact. Finding a place to hide out for a bit had posed a challenge but the two escapees had found a building that had been vacated. In fact, they had seen the owners leaving and getting into their car but it wasn't until they were out of sight that the two made their move and snuck into the backyard.

It was there when they first encountered their first obstacle. There was a damn security system on the building which needed to be dealt with and quickly. It had taken some persuasion and a lot of patience for Solo to convince Duo to try and fry the system. Kid Duo was not as advanced as Reaper Duo was when it came to using their powers and Solo had to try and coach him through it all and ultimately succeeded. Duo was able to rot the circuits in the system and make sure that the system couldn't reactivate with some back up power supply. After that, Solo broke both the lock and deadbolt to the backdoor and in they went.

The first order of business was food and the two boys happily raided the pantry and refrigerator, grabbing anything that looked edible. That had been good, actually, but maybe they should have held off from eating the butter…

After that it was into the bathroom to wash up and get a new change of clothing. It would look very suspicious if they walked around in the baggy clothing they wore back at the compound, wherever it was. It had been a heck of a field day as Solo had gotten reacquainted with what a bathroom should be and for Duo who had somehow never seen one before. Back where they came from, they could only bathe in a large room with shower heads sticking out of the walls that only spouted out cold water and that was only once a week. So the innovation of a shower with hot water was the greatest thing either of them had experienced in…forever.

The clothing though, eh, it could have been much better. Whoever lived here, they were shorter that Solo but bigger than Duo so that basically meant that whatever Solo took would be small and tight on him while whatever Duo took would be big and baggy on him. At that point, Solo hadn't cared as he put someone else's (tight!) boxers on with a nearly skin tight tank top that only covered down to half his stomach and headed out to the living room where he soon collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.

And that was all she wrote on that one.

Of course, just as things were starting to look up, Solo suddenly found himself being shaken awake by Duo who had this scared look on his face. Turning towards the source of the braided boy's fear, he saw who he assumed to be the owner of the house staring at them.

After a very, _very_ brief struggle that Solo easily won, he had the other teen tied tightly to one of the dining room chairs. Now here he was back on the couch with his head tilted back onto the top of the piece of furniture while the owner of the house was glaring daggers at him.

Now the only question was what to do now? The government assholes would be sure to come here if they hear about this if it ever came out. Yet, they couldn't just leave this guy, he might squeal. He really hated it when his options were limited.

Raising his head to glance back at his hostage, he felt his temper snap as he barked, "What?!"

The hostage just snorted in disgust in answer.

Solo's green eyes narrowed, small streaks of amber beginning to color them. "What are you lookin' at?" he demanded.

"Who does it look like?" the hostage quipped.

Oh, he had a smart-aleck on his hands. Too bad he didn't know how to handle one of those so he thought that the direct approach would probably be best. Standing up, he slowly began to close the distance between them, towering over the other.

The hostage's eyes narrowed. "Those are my clothes," he stated coldly.

Solo just rolled his eyes, lifted a foot which he placed on the hostage's shoulder and pushed forward, causing the chair the teen was tied to to fall backwards and take the occupant with it. This had the definite effect of causing the hostage to show a different emotion other than pure hate.

Solo then moved around so that he was closer to the teen's head and crouched down, resting his elbows on his bent knees. "Ya know," he began conversationally, "I could crush yer head with my bare hands. It'd be easy, a snap really. So maybe you can get with the program and help us out a bit. Is that too much ta ask for?"

The glare returned and intensified ten fold, much to Solo's displeasure. "Oh, and why would you ask me for something that you're going to take anyway?" he demanded.

Solo sighed. They weren't getting anywhere with this guy. "Look pal," he said, "all we need is some food, somethin' better ta wear, and a place ta spend the night and then we're out of yer hair, capisce?"

"Is that all?" the teen replied angrily.

"Why would we want anythin' else?" Solo asked, confused. It was just a simple request he was making, what was the problem?

"You break into my home," the hostage growled, "you attacked me and tied me to a chair, and you're saying you only want a place to stay at? You threaten me that you're going to crush my head if I don't cooperate all for something as little as that? There's gotta be more than just that. You're probably going to kill me when you leave so I won't talk."

Solo had the decency to look away at that. It was true that he had been entertaining that thought.

"Why would I lie?" Solo demanded, frustrated.

"Why wouldn't you?" the hostage retorted.

At that, Solo growled. "That's it. Take a look at Duo over there. He's tired, he's hungry, and he has no reason ta want ta hurt ya, unlike me. Would you be willing to kick him out on the streets to die?"

It was a good thing that Duo was looking as retched as he did, even though Solo had noted that he hadn't looked like that a minute ago. He could see their host's eyes fall onto the braided boy and soften a bit. Solo almost smirked; it seemed like things were about to go their way again.

At least, it seemed to be until all their heads shot up at the sudden noise of a lock being turned and a door opening.

"Shit!" Solo swore and grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a pair of rolled up socks, and stuffed it into the hostage's open mouth. "Don't say a word," he warned quietly to the teen before stealing off.

"Heero? Are you here?" a feminine voice called out. "Answer me Heero! Heeeeerrrrrooooooo!"

"Please don't do that Relena," another voice said. "This is his house, he's not half a mile away or piloting a giant robot."

Not a second later, two girls walked into the living room, not noticing the position of the restrained teen until they were five feet away from him.

"Oh my god!" the shorter blonde girl cried out. "Heero! Are you all right?" She sounded just like that first voice…

"You're not hurt, are you?" the taller blonde girl asked as she dropped what she was holding to try and aid the now named Heero.

Of course, try was the operative word here.

Neither of the girls were aware of Solo until he pounced, his arms snaking under theirs and lifting them off the floor itself, his hands clapping down onto their mouths.

"Well this is just great," the blond male muttered. "Now we got three on our hands. This is just fan-fucking-tastic!"

Note the sarcasm there.


	7. Whose Crisis is this?

Author's Note: Nobody picked out last chapter's reference. In fact, nobody even attempted a guess. I am so disappointed… Well, last chapter's reference was Dorothy's comment about Heero being in a giant robot. Sure, it's a reference to the Gundam Wing anime but Heero did also pilot a Mobile Suit in The Deathdealer, for those of you who remember.

Anyway, as a warning to those of the fairer sex, I ask of you not to be offended on how Solo views girls. They are rather sexist in nature, if you can call them that, but please keep in mind that Solo hasn't seen a female in years at the least.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Whose Crisis is this?

Dorothy knew that she had been craving some excitement in this boring town for some time but going over to Heero's house to find her friend tied up hadn't been something she had in mind.

But as if that wasn't all, no far from it, suddenly now she and Relena were being held in the tight grip of some mysterious criminal. The guy was big and strong, she could tell that by the fact that she could no longer feel the floor under her feet. Also, contrary to her looks, she was heavier than she appeared.

"Well this is just great. Now we got three on our hands. This is just fan-fucking-tastic!" she heard a voice mutter from behind her head and she could feel the hot breath blow against her skin, sending a shudder through her body. She began to claw at the arm that held her, using her long, manicured nails to achieve this but it was as if whoever this was wasn't even affected by it.

With all her might, she kicked her foot back, feeling satisfied as her foot impacted something soft that she had gotten their assailant in his crotch. Much to her surprise, he didn't even flinch, or wince. But how was that possible? All men became blubbering babies if their little friend between their legs got hurt!

"Hey Duo! Find something ta tie these bitches up, okay?" the voice thundered behind her without even a hint of pain in it, further baffling the girl.

---

Solo found himself leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at their three hostages.

Looks like Lady Luck didn't like them anymore.

He couldn't help but find amusement in the curiosity that Duo showed as he stared at the two girls that had joined the party. It was as if the kid hadn't seen a girl before, which was just nonsense.

He was in no way affected by the three glares that were being aimed at him by the three captives, the only guy there still tied to the chair while the two girls were hogtied with dirty balled up socks duct taped to their mouths to prevent any noise from coming from them. If Solo recalled his childhood on the streets correctly, the girls would be two noisy little things and would have called the attention of the entire town on them if they hadn't talked his ears off by the time the door was kicked down.

At least he had seen more of his own powers in work thanks to the struggle those girls had put up when he had grabbed them. He was sure that he would have been seeing lights when that one girl with the eyebrows had kicked him in the balls but he was probably more surprised than anybody else here when he felt not a single thing from it. He did not know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing even though he was leaning towards the good part.

At least he wouldn't have to worry about blows below the belt anymore…

"Solo," a voice broke through his thoughts. "What do we do now?"

He looked down at Duo and pondered. What were they going to do now? He hadn't planned his escape as far as he should have. The plan had only gone as far as getting out of that place. Now that not only he but Duo were out of there, what did they do now? Man, he needed to get some more sleep so he could think more clearly. Taking note of how the clothes on Duo were still too big on him, the spark of an idea flashed in his mind.

At least this would be a start and was better than nothing.

"We need ta get some better clothes," he said aloud so that their hostages could hear as well.

"But don't we already have that?" Duo asked innocently, picking at the oversized shirt he was wearing.

"I meant better fitting ones," Solo cleared up gently to the boy. Then his green eyes fell over the girls. "But I don't think we should be outside right now. We'll need someone else ta get some better stuff for us."

It had been years since Solo had to use his street skills but he was having to employ them right now so he could judge which one of them to send out. The dirty blonde headed girl's eyes were wide with fear still while the other blonde with the eyebrows had hers narrowed.

Bingo.

Walking casually to that girl, he crouched down and tore the duct tape off with one quick movement but then grabbed the girl's mouth to prevent her from spitting out the socks and to keep her from screaming her head off.

"I'm only going to tell you this once," he told the girl, deepening his voice to try and scare her into compliance. "You're going to go out and get both of us some stuff, okay? You're going to do that and not say a word 'bout what's going on, okay?"

The girl continued to glare at him but nodded her head in the positive.

"Good," he said and pulled the socks out of her mouth.

"You'll pay for that," the girl hissed after she finished spitting out the awful taste in her mouth.

"Let me show ya something," Solo said as he stood up and looked around the room, his eyes lighting up at the coffee table. Casually walking over to it, he put a hand on each end of it, lengthwise, and began to push it in. The cracking of wood snapped through the air and the three teenagers could only stare in awe as the blond crushed the wooden piece of furniture with ease. Due to his muscles bunching up in the effort, one of the straps of the too-small tank top he was wearing snapped and dangling limply from his chest the moment he stood back up to his full height. Moving back to the ungagged girl, he crouched back down and said, "I can easily do that to yer friends and ya don't want me to do that, right?" Getting the fearful nod in return, he continued, "Well, that'll happen if ya do blow our cover, 'kay? So go out there, get us some clothes and get back as quickly as ya can and we'll have no problems."

"Y-y-yes-s-s," the girl stuttered.

"Good," Solo said again, smirking wickedly.

---

Dorothy's hurried footsteps were the only sound that the girl heard as she raced her way back into downtown.

Never before had she ever felt such fear before. The boys that were holding them against their wills, who were they? That blond guy was abnormally strong; what the hell was he? She still had the urge to scream her head off and tell everyone around her about what was happening but the memory of that blond crushing that table into pieces and then threatening to do the same thing to her friends…it was almost too much for her.

But she needed to be strong, for Relena and Heero. She would be damned if anything happened to them on her watch.

It was a very good thing that it was still early in the evening; the clothes store wasn't even close to closing up for the day. She practically burst into the store, earning her a surprised look from the store clerk who commented, "Dorothy, what a surprise! You were just here a while ago!"

"Yeah, my mother wanted me to pick a few things up for her," she lied.

"Well, take your time, I'm not going anywhere," the clerk said in response.

In the next instant, she had dived into the racks of clothes, looking for something, anything, that might appease the boys holding her friends hostage. From memory alone, she tried to guess what size the blond would wear, her mind automatically calling up the image of him in that ruined tank top…

Much to her horror, she felt herself _blushing_. What was _wrong_ with her? Could she possibly be attracted to that monster? Sure, he was handsome, strong (no doubt about that), had large feet that made her wonder if that old saying about big feet was true…okay, so she was physically attracted. She was positive that it was just a passing phase, yeah, that was it! Who wouldn't drool over that guy anyway? Yep, her reaction was normal, perfectly normal…

Nearly slapping herself to focus her mind on the task at hand, she quickly picked through shirts and pants, checking sizes and pulling out anything she thought would help. Then she recalled that blond monster saying "us." It took her a second but she remembered the braided kid with him. Now how could she forget about something like that? C'mon, no one had a braid as long as that kid had! And if she remembered clearly, he was definitely smaller than his companion, definitely smaller than Heero's parents since she recognized one of their shirts on him.

So yeah, it was simpler shopping for him. Yet she wondered what circumstances could have occurred to bring those two together in the first place. The kid had this innocent look about him and she didn't feel threatened in his presence whatsoever unlike the other.

Something was up, something else entirely now that she thought about it. What could have happened to have forced these two boys who were seemingly complete opposites to break into Heero's house and tie him to a chair? They could have demanded anything from them but all they wanted were clothes? This wasn't a robbery, at least a simple one. There was more to this story, she could feel it.

The only way to find out more was to get back there.

"Are you sure your mother wanted this stuff?" the store clerk asked, puzzled by Dorothy's selection. "I don't think anyone in your family wears a…extra large?"

"That's what I said," Dorothy jested so as not to arouse any suspicions.

"At least I'm not alone," the clerk said but nonetheless scanned the chosen items.

---

Ah, this was much better. Yeah, it was a good feeling when you weren't being choked to death just by wearing a shirt.

Solo was very surprised in how conscious this girl was. She even got them shoes, even though he did not remember asking for them. It was thoughtful, really, even though the shoes she had bought for him were a bit small but he could rob a shoe store later when they left town.

Of course, the excuse the girl had given him was that it was better to get too much than too little just so he wouldn't follow through with his threat against her friends. Funny thing about that, she was correct in assuming he would've done it. He hadn't been through all the crap he had been put through by the military and gotten nothing else out of it other than his powers.

After sorting through all the stuff that the blonde had bought, the assemble that Solo had picked out may not had been the most fashionable but hey, _he_ like it. Khaki pants as brown as dirt and covered with pockets encased his lower body while his upper was a whole different story. He had chosen a long-sleeved flannel shirt but didn't stop there as he had picked out a polyester vest to go over that. On one last note, even though it just may fit into the "too much information" category, he switched out the boxers he was wearing for a looser fitting pair.

Sure that he looked perfect, he took a look at what Duo had chosen and smiled in approval. The braided kid had chosen a black, long-sleeved dress shirt and black pants. Yeah, definitely much simpler than what Solo had chosen but lets just see who had chosen the best when they were out in the cold, huh? Still, maybe simpler was better…

"Okay, you got what you wanted," a voice interrupted his peaceful world, "are you going to leave now?"

Flicking his eyes over to the blonde girl with the eyebrows who had her eyes conveniently averted, he smirked. So she wanted them out, did she? No, she kicked him in the balls and even though she hadn't hurt it, his pride still demanded reprisal for it.

"So soon?" he mock pouted. "Didn't your friend tell ya anything? Oh wait, he couldn't, that's right. We're spending da night! Great, ain't it?"

The girl's eyes were bulging out of their sockets comically. "But! But you said—"

"What did I say?" he teased, enjoying every moment that he was flustering her.

"You said you were going to leave!" she exclaimed.

"I don't remember him saying that," he heard Duo say aloud and if Solo looked carefully, he could have sworn he saw a streak of crimson in those violet eyes. "He said we wouldn't have any problems, didn't ya?"

Solo grinned and nodded in agreement. Hey, he was helping him out. Besides, it seemed like Duo was enjoying making the girl squirm.

"Yeah, I told yer friend that all we wanted was food, clothes, and a place ta spend the night," Solo said, his grin turning wicked as he saw the horror grow on her face. "We ain't goin' nowhere 'till mornin', ya got that?"

"You lied to me!" the girl shrieked.

"Now that hurts," Solo cried out, grabbing a hold of his chest where his heart was. "Duo, have I ever lied ta ya before?"

"Nope!" the braided boy answered cheerfully and due to the subtle changes in his voice, Solo knew that the more innocent side of Duo was back in control. Solo made a mental note to read up on multiple personalities the next chance he got.

"See!" he boasted.

"Well he's a little liar," the girl snapped.

There was a flash of crimson in those violet eyes. Uh oh, he better head this storm off before it got bad. Before the girl knew what was happening, Solo had stuck the socks back into her mouth and replaced the duct tape, grabbing a hold of the girl's hands as she reached up to undo it. A minute later she was back hogtied on the floor and glaring back up at him again. But Solo was not done with her as he leveled a more heated glare at her.

"We may be a lot of things," he said in a no-nonsense voice, "but one thing we ain't are liars. Ya got that?" When no movement of the head answered him, he roughly grabbed the girl's jaw with bruising force, squeezing unkindly with his unnatural strength. "I said, do ya got that?" he snapped.

That managed to get the nod he wanted and he pushed her away from him roughly. Lies…as if either of them would stoop that low…

His once good mood now soured, he fixed his glare onto the only male here who was tied up. The hostage (wasn't his name Hero or something like that?) was motioning with his eyes towards the hastily made gag, all the while continuing to give him a dirty look. Reaching over, he undid the gag and demanded, "What?"

"Don't you think that's going over the top?" the male asked with disgust in his voice.

"Call me what ya want," the blond snapped back, "but don't call me a goddamn liar, got that?"

"You haven't thought this through, have you?" the brunet sneered.

"What do you mean?" Duo's soft voice asked.

For the first time since they had met, the teen smirked. "My parents are going to be coming back any minute and Relena and Dorothy's are going to be wondering where they are. Unless you let us go and get out of here, you both are screwed."

Duo frowned. "What's a parent?"

While the three teens looked at the braided boy incredulously, Solo just looked down, already used to his friend's odd questions. Heh, that's funny. Now he thought Duo was his friend…

Nonetheless, he answered bitterly, "Parents are grown ups that don't give a flying fuck about you, care only for themselves, and leave you in a back ally so they don't have ta look at ya anymore."

"Huh," Duo said, "I don't remember if I had parents…"

"You're lucky," Solo said bitterly, looking back up to glare at the bound male. Then his glare turned into a smirk. "I don't think we have ta worry 'bout your parents coming back. They had suitcases on them when they left. They ain't coming back tonight."

The teen's eyes widened slightly then wider as if he suddenly remembered something. "The convention," he muttered, "Shit!"

The two girls looked up at him, surprised to hear the foul language from him.

"But," Solo then drawled, "I don't know about these bitches. If I let them go, they'll tell on us and if we keep 'um, like ya said, their parents will be lookin' for 'um. Decisions, decisions…"

The blond then looked up to Duo, as if asking for his opinion. "Why don't we kill um?" the boy asked, once again rocking the foundations of Solo's beliefs about the kid. Maybe he truly wasn't as innocent as he seemed…

"Nah," he answered, "then we'll get the whole town after us, which we don't want either."

"Just let Relena and Dorothy go," the nameless male said. "I'll be your hostage if you want, just let them go."

The smaller of the two blonde girls seemed to have a problem with this as she looked straight up at the guy and made some kind of noise that Solo guessed was the guy's name.

"Like I said, if we do let them go, what's ta stop them from squealin'?" Solo challenged, crossing his arms over his chest. Duo said nothing, preferring to stroke the end of his braid as he thought about his friend's question.

"Then you can kill me," the teen stated without hesitation. The smaller blonde screamed in muffled despair while the other with the eyebrows stared at him in shock.

"Are you sure we can trust ya?" Solo asked, eyes narrowing.

"I don't lie," the teen replied boldly, glaring into Solo's eyes.

The blond's eyelids closed over his eyes and seemed to be considering the teen's suggestion. When he opened them, he had come to a decision, one in which all the other occupants unconsciously leaned in closer to hear what he would say.

And he told them.


	8. Monsters

Author's Note: Quite frankly, I don't remember last chapter's reference and when I tried to find it, sad to say, I couldn't. So, to make up for that, there are _two_ references in this chapter. If you can get them both, that means you can get to make up two OCs that I will use later on. However, while one is blaringly obvious, the other is not as much. Same as last time, it's a first come, first serve thing so get cracking people. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Monsters

"Those two are monsters!"

Dorothy eyed her upset friend as she vented all the while keeping an eye and ear out for anybody that might overhear.

Yeah, that blond guy had accepted Heero's offer and now the two of them were on their way home after so many hours… She wondered if she was going to be in trouble for this; she couldn't just say that she was being held against her will by two boys she had never seen before. It would violate the terms that Heero himself had laid out and would more than likely get him killed.

She thought that the decision had been rash and not thought out long enough but then she wasn't complaining since she wasn't tied up and had no socks in her mouth…she spit into a nearby lawn, still trying to get that horrible taste out of her mouth. Of all the things, those guys just had to gag her with a pair of dirty socks, ehhg.

"Keep it down, Relena," she said aloud.

"What? Why should I?" Relena demanded, her eyes blazing fanatically. "Why shouldn't I tell on them? They deserve it!"

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Dorothy deadpanned. "If you do tell, then Heero's dead."

"Those monsters," Relena swore.

"Actually, that was Heero's idea," Dorothy replied.

At that, all defiance in the girl was swept away and her shoulders slumped. "I know," Relena whimpered. "Oh Heero…"

"Look Relena, as long as we keep quiet, they won't do anything," Dorothy tried to reassure her, momentarily taking off from her watch to comfort her best friend.

"But how do we know?" Relena asked tearfully. "How do we know that one guy won't squish Heero's head like he did to that table?"

"He was awfully upset when I called him a liar," Dorothy pointed out. "If lying means so much to him that he refuses to do it himself, then he's got to keep his word and leave with his friend in the morning."

"What was with that boy anyway?" Relena asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"How do you mean?" Dorothy asked.

"He was so quiet the whole time and when he did speak, he either asked the weirdest things or asked why they hadn't killed us," Relena explained. "And what was with his hair?" the blonde wondered. "I didn't think someone could grow their hair out that long…it's has to be longer than yours!"

Going along with this train of thought since it was more preferable to thinking about Heero's current predicament, Dorothy picked up, "How did you come up with that?"

"He had it in a braid, remember?" Relena answered. "Even that braid is long! Think how long his hair will be if it was unbraided!"

"Damn, you're right," Dorothy said, eyes widening at the envisioned prospect.

As the girls continued on their way to their homes, neither of them noticed a car parked on the other side of the street, one that if they had been looking at it, neither would have been able to recognize it.

---

Duo only watched in wide eyed wonder as Solo took in a deep breath and let it all out.

"Mmhm, that smell's nice!" his friend said out loud, speaking to that other guy. The guy had offered to cook for them, whatever that meant, if they untied him. It was only natural that they both stared at the guy, until Duo decided to cop out and stare at Solo, making the larger boy decide.

He had agreed and ordered the guy to make them supper, whatever that meant. It was true that he didn't really understand much about this outside world. It was just so big but at least he had Solo with him and Solo seemed to know a lot of stuff about this place. He wondered if his other side would know about this stuff too…his other did know a lot of stuff.

"Smell that Duo," Solo told him all of a sudden. "Doesn't it smell good?"

Not really sure what his friend was asking of him, he nonetheless did as he was told and copied Solo's earlier action, taking in a deep breath of air and letting it all out. Wow, whatever was in the air smelled _good_. In fact, he took in another breath and held it until the need for more air made him let it go. Of course, that started it all over again when he breathed in again and repeated…and repeated…and repeated.

"Hey Duo!" Solo called out to him. "Ya didn't answer me."

"Oh!" he blinked, coming back again. "What was the question again?"

Solo chuckled. "You really are something, ya know that?"

"I guess," he replied, unsure.

Solo just shook his head and chuckled again before yelling out to the other guy, "That stuff better be cooked, ya hear?" All he got in return was some more grumbling but Solo ignored it as he lounged on the couch.

When that other guy had tried to give them food the first time, it hadn't gone over well. The guy had given them what looked like rice and something else that he called "sushi." After one bite of this "sushi," Solo had spitted it out and yelled at the other guy, demanding to know why he was trying to poison them. The other guy just said that was how "sushi" was supposed to be. Solo hadn't been happy with that neither was he, Duo, since through all the noise he had tried the "sushi" and didn't like it either.

"Get your Chinese butt back in there and make us some real food!" Solo had told the guy.

"I'm Japanese," the other guy said, just as pissed as Solo was.

"Same difference, now go make us food before I take one of those butter knives over there and stab ya in da jugular."

And that's how it had been ever since. The other guy was in that other room making food while he and Solo were in this one sitting around waiting for the food. Duo had no clue as to how long it took to make a meal as every one he had had up to this point in his life had always been prepared and waiting for him, not the other way around. Solo seemed to know what he was doing so he followed his lead in doing nothing. It was very boring doing that but it wasn't as if he had some other choice.

Hearing something slam in the other room with the tiled floor caused the braided boy to jump in his seat and to whip his head over to look in the direction of the sound. Not a second later, he heard the other guy say, "It's done."

Looking at Solo to see what he would do, the larger of them stood up and stretched his arms, making his way to the room where the other guy was. Naturally, Duo copied and followed after. What greeted them was a pan of some scrambled yellow stuff from which steam was rising. Taking in another deep breath, Duo figured that the smell was coming from the yellow stuff.

Solo didn't look like to have a clue what the yellow stuff either and looked like he was going to yell at the other guy again until the other guy interrupted him by saying, "It's scrambled eggs. Other than toast, it's the only thing I can make in the kitchen so either you can take it or leave it."

"Lousy Chinese…" Solo muttered but sat down at the table anyway. For that, Solo got a glare from the other guy who said nothing this time but Duo himself couldn't help but say, "He's Japanese, Solo."

"Same difference."

With the exception of Solo telling the other guy to make them toast, whatever that was, there was no more talking as he and his friend ate all the "scrambled eggs" that had been cooked for them. As much as that other guy glared at them, neither of them were affected by it and ignored them easily. To tell the truth, Duo was more afraid of those calm looks he got from those scientist guys whenever he was strapped down to that table for another session. He shivered at that thought; nothing was more frightening than that.

Except for whenever that music started…

No! He couldn't think about that, not now! He just needed to focus on eating, just eating. Yeah, that was better, much better. Everything was fine with his world; nothing was wrong, nothing at all…

Just the way he liked it.

---

It was an incredibly dark room that Mobias found himself in, along with four others that he couldn't see at all. He was tempted to call onto his fire but had been ordered not to use his powers at all once he had been allowed in here. Normally, he would have snorted at such a thing and used his fire the moment he entered this room.

At least, that would have been what he would have done except that hidden in the darkness somewhere were some sort of guns that would supposedly electrocute him if he did. He cared too much for his hide to provoke that so he kept his powers on the down low, at least until he was able to figure out if he could get away with using his fire.

A distance away, a beam of light shot out from the floor. The light didn't do much to get rid of the darkness of the room but what it did do was show what looked like to be a man sitting behind a table. Since the light only showed a small part of the table, Mobias had no clue as to how big it was or what it looked like.

The man though, there was something about him. The way he seemed to look at him and the others, there was something creepy about it. The man had his elbows resting on the table in front of him and his fingers were intertwined with one another, just in front of his mouth and nose so that only his eyes were revealed to Mobias and his unknown companions. If Mobias squinted his eyes enough, he would have sworn that the man's eyes were of different colors…

"You are all probably wondering why you are all here, aren't you?" the man's smooth voice suddenly asked, his head rising above his hands just enough so that his mouth was now visible.

"Damn right," Mobias said aloud without remorse.

The man, however, only chuckled at the answer and shifted in a chair that none of the boys could see clearly. "I take it you are all aware of your fellow comrades' successful escape?"

Comrades? What was this guy, some Russian? As if he would even be near Solo or that braided kid. Especially Solo. How could that guy throw away all the things that had been given to him?

"I see you all have," the man commented with humor in his voice. "Now, you are all probably wondering why I've brought that up. Well, all five of you are the strongest and most powerful still here. I want you to go after our little escapees and bring them back here, _alive_. Now, whether or not that extends to their physical well beings, well, I wouldn't mind if either of them were missing a leg if you know what I mean."

Mobias was starting to like this guy, whoever he was. At last, he had his chance to prove that he was better than Solo, no, more _powerful_ that Solo could ever imagine. Yeah, he'd show them all who the greatest is, once and for all!

"We have been able to locate where our wayward friends have gone," the man continued, oblivious to Mobias' internal proclamations. "They are currently hiding out somewhere in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Within the hour, you will be transported there to smoke them out. I don't care if the town survives; it is of little consequence to your mission. Do I make myself clear?"

Mobias nodded, smirking viciously at all the thoughts he entertained about what he was going to do.

"From where I come from, we usually answer a question with a 'yes sir.'" the man said dryly. "Now, I ask again, do I make myself clear?"

Five "yes sirs" passed through the air and into the man's ears. The man nodded and waved them all away. "You are dismissed. Prepare yourselves while you still have the time to. Remember, if you fail, you do not want to know what will be done to you."

The subtle threat was enough to pour a bucket of cold water over the fervor in Mobias' body.

---

Once the five weapons had left the room and the door was shut firmly behind them, Xavien flicked a nearby switch on the table in front of him, lighting up the entire room to reveal all the camouflaged men dressed in solid black and each holding their XAI custom tazers. The debriefing had gone quite well, in Xavien's opinion, but he still wanted to be sure that the task he had given his weapons would be completed.

"Malkov," he said aloud. "I want you to form a backup group just incase. It would be a shame if these weapons were to…malfunction or prove themselves obsolete."

"Yes, Mr. Xavien," a large, emotionless man answered, saluting his superior and leaving to do his bidding.

His eyes watching the large man leave, a smile twisted itself onto his lips.


	9. Sleepover!

Author's Note: As stated last chapter, there were two references. One was the appearance of Malkov, Xavien's right hand man in The Deathdealer and in The Eternal Encore. The other was Solo's comment of him stabbing Heero in the jugular with a butter knife, a reference to Return to L2, one of my more earlier fics. Now, on a more serious note, since it doesn't seem like anybody else is taking up my little challenges to spot references, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to stop them now, occasionally making one but no rewards will be offered. However, I still need cannon fodder and I can only come up with so many OCs at once. So, here's the deal, if you want an OC of your own creation to be featured in this fic, you must PM me and give me your OCs details, such as their physical appearance, personality, powers, all the while fitting the criteria given thus far in the story. That means no girl OCs, they got to be male. I see a profile of an OC that is a girl, I'm not even going to look at it anymore.

Speaking of OCs, it's time to introduce Archsage Soren's first one: Jason Ciliars. That's right buddy, your number one guy finally makes his debut. I hope I got him acting like the way you envisioned him.

Now, without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing nor do I own Archsage Soren's Jason (OC).

Warning: language, slight masturbation of the female variety...

Sleepover!

"Is this really necessary?" Heero deadpanned as the blond intruder finished tying him up to another chair.

"Don't want ya calling for help while I'm asleep," the blond shrugged, "'sides, ain't it better in this one instead of the other?"

The intruder did have a point. The chair that he was now restrained in was his father's easy chair, meaning it was much more comfortable than the hard dining table chair that he had been tied to for most of the afternoon.

"I mean, it's not like ya have ta worry 'bout me or Duo shaving your pubic hair off and gluin' it ta ya face," Solo continued listlessly as he eyed his braided friend with a critical eye, falling silent for a minute as if he was contemplating something.

Maybe he should shut up…

"You don't trust me, do you?" he found himself asking and he internally winced. He did not want to provoke this guy, especially after what he did to the coffee table…

"There's only two people in the whole world I trust," the blond answered, "and you ain't one of them."

"Fair enough," he commented and fell silent. However, he still felt the urge to say something, to continue talking with the blond with the pony tail, the last thing he wanted to do by the way. He was reasonably appalled at himself for even feeling like this. Whoever this guy was, this Solo as his friend called him, he had broken into his home and held him against his will. He was a criminal for all he knew, a very strong one albeit, but a criminal nonetheless.

His blue eyes glanced over at a figure sleeping on the couch, curled up into a little ball. Duo. How many times had he heard Solo call him that? A lot and that was more than enough to figure out that was what that kid's name was. But what was a kid like that doing with someone like Solo? It made no sense to Heero.

Without warning, he felt something come up against him and he was surprised to see a blanket. What?

Looking up, he saw Solo settling himself at the other end of the couch, pulling up another blanket onto himself as he settled in. From the corner of his eye, noticed a blanket covering Duo also; when had that happened?

Noticing he was being stared at, Solo looked up at him quizzically. "What?"

Narrowing his eyes, Heero accused, "You've been in the hall closet."

Solo snorted. "What? Ya want ta be cold?"

Heero blinked at that. It was true that it got really cold at night in the desert but couldn't he just rely on the heater for that? Then again, it would get hot in the house and come morning…maybe the blankets weren't such a bad idea. But still, he wanted to show his defiance, no matter how detrimental it was to him.

"What if I don't want it?" he challenged.

"Kick it off," Solo answered as he turned his back towards him.

"And if I really do need it?"

"Not my problem."

Perhaps he should really keep his defiance to himself. It was not going to get him anywhere with this Solo, now was it?

---

_She was a queen of a forgotten realm, surrounded by the most beautiful men that her kingdom had to offer. Surrounded in her golden oasis, her muscular concubines tending to her every need no matter how taboo it might be, she was informed of a new servant._

_Immediately, she requested for this new servant to come forward and what she found definitely made her hot under the collar. She could not get enough of the sight of him, his near-nakedness just screaming at her to touch him. She admired the way his golden blond hair flowed from his head and down his back, the chiseled handsome facial features, the physique that only a god could have. She wanted him, no, needed him, now._

_Gesturing with her fingers, she commanded him to come to her, to obey her every whim, and as he drew closer, she could see the desire in his eyes, eyes whose color was indeterminate. What color were they? It was a mystery that begged to be solved but soon it didn't matter as she ordered the young man to give her pleasure._

_He obeyed her command readily, easily lifting her off her throne and giving a molten kiss that turned her body into jelly. Feather light touches skimmed over her skin, even as the male's lips worked her into a fervor, arousing her and taking her to levels beyond even that. She wanted more, could only want more as she became a slave to her desires, desires created by a servant._

_The young man took his seat on her throat, setting her into his lap but not letting go of her once as he lips pecked her all over her face, even going as far as to tease her eyebrows, eyebrows that always consumed others' attentions whenever she was brought up verbally. Her hands grasped hold of her servant's long blond hair and she was the one to initiate another kiss only for her dominance to be short lived as the servant gained control over her once more._

"_Who are you?" she asked breathlessly, she body rising up into the air with strong hands holding her by her waist._

_The servant did not answer her. Instead, he just watched her with his intense green eyes even as he plopped her back into his lap and sent molten heat rushing into—_

---

Dorothy found her eyes suddenly snapping open.

She couldn't help but groan aloud; just when it had been getting to the good part too! Now she was horny as hell and needed to…

For all you male readers, this is some girl private time so look away for a bit and skip to the next scene… (1)

…

Ah, that was much better!

All she needed to do now was calm herself and do what she always did when she woke up in a sweat and horny as hell. That was recall the dream she just had and give another reason to be sweaty. Teenage hormones, they could be such a bitch…

It wasn't the first time she had that dream before yet there was something different about it. Always she would be this queen or empress relaxing in some sort of chamber and tended to by all these beautiful male servants who would tend to her every whim. Then there was always the introduction of a new servant and then he and she would…

But there was something different about this dream boy she had seen. He looked so familiar that she could almost put her finger on it. Lets see, who did she know who was incredibly handsome, had long blond hair, had a great body, and the most piercing green eyes—

She jerked from her reverie, her eyes the widest they had even been since her tenth birthday. She knew no one around here in Boulder who looked like that guy did except for one person and that person was the only person she had ever met with green eyes.

It was that guy who tied her, Relena, and Heero up earlier…er, yesterday if what the time her clock was showing meant anything. This…that…it couldn't be right! It couldn't be possible, not at all! It was just some trick her mind was playing on her.

Yet she couldn't suppress a shiver that ran up her spine at the very thought of those green eyes…

---

Gray overcast covered the sky, even as the sun was rising in the east, its light only succeeding at brightening the landscape but not powerful enough to pierce the think clouds above. Wind blew across the weathered terrain, bringing with it a scent of rain that was only noticeable to the wildlife with the highly sensitive sense of smell.

In the midst of this barren land, a cloud of dust ran through it, revealing the path that a large gray truck was taking as it sped towards the nearest center of human civilization.

It was only at the outskirts of the small town of Boulder that the vehicle stopped, the back doors opening up to release five male youths, all of them seemingly harmless but were anything but. With its cargo ejected, the van's back doors were closed and the large automobile began to backtrack the way it came, leaving behind the five boys.

Each were of varying heights ranging from tall to short and other physical features that made it clear that none of them were related, with the exception of the two shortest who happened to be identical twins. Each wore similar black uniforms made of padded leather and each designed to suit each individual.

One of the boys separated from the small group, taking the first steps towards Boulder but stopping only a few feet away from his comrades. He glared at the small town with disdain and snorted at it in contempt. This was where those two ran to? Couldn't they had chosen some place else?

_I don't care if the town survives; it is of little consequence to your mission._

Those words echoing in his head caused the boy to smirk. Well, maybe he shouldn't be so disappointed at the two people he hated the most, after all he could just burn the entire place to the ground "by accident" and no one would question it. Heck, no one would probably care if this place disappeared off the face of the map.

"Mobias, come over here," one of his comrades spoke, his voice nearly a monotone, as if he could care less about what was going on. Mobias turned and glanced at a tall, thin, pale boy with mousy brown hair and plain brown eyes, the lanky figure just standing where it was without moving.

"And why should I listen to you, Isley?" he sneered. "You're not in charge here; I am."

"You wish," the taller boy replied, letting a small smile grace his lips.

"Care to say that to my face?" he growled as he turned fully to glare at the other boy.

"Already did," Isley said, amused.

"This is stupid," one of the younger boys said.

"Yeah, stupid," agreed the boy's twin.

"Why don't we…" the first twin began.

"…just blow that town up already?" the other twin finished.

"What are you two? Mindreaders?" Mobias demanded.

"No, I'm the telepath," Isley butted it.

"Shut up!" Mobias yelled.

"No," the first twin said.

"You shut up!" the second said.

"Why don't you all shut up?" came the calmer voice of the fifth boy who had up until this point said nothing. Out of the five boys, this one was one of the shorter ones, not as small as the pint sized twins but not as tall as Mobias or Isley, though his skinny frame did not hint at any physical strength. His black hair flowed back across his head like a river, covering most of his ears and ending just above his shoulders. Due to the experiments that had been performed on him, the tips of his hair, extending only to about an inch at the most, were colored a solid white. This could be seen, even from his bangs that hung over his narrowed blue eyes that hinted at Asian ancestry and halting just in front of his nose that seemed a bit crooked. "We are accomplishing nothing while you are fighting like children," he stated.

"But we are children Jason!" both twins cried out.

"As if," Mobias muttered.

Jason glared at them all, green streaks in his eyes flashing murderously, one of his eyes twitching warningly, but nonetheless silencing them. He supposed that he was going to have to be the one to take charge of this operation since none of the ones who were trying for it could muster any support and the ones that could do that weren't.

"One of us should go down there and try to find where the two traitors are," the boy said aloud.

Immediately, Mobias jumped the gun. "I'll go do it," he exclaimed eagerly.

"Not you," Jason snapped.

"Oh and what ya gonna do about it?" Mobias sneered as he summoned flames in each hand.

The shorter boy just swiped his hand through the air but what followed was a sudden force that impacted the taller boy, followed immediately by what could only be described as a stiff breeze. Mobias found himself flying through the air before landing roughly on the ground, his body skipping on the solid surface until he began to skid to a stop. Both twins began to laugh uproariously until Jason glared at them to shut up.

"Isley, you go," he instructed.

Not saying a word, Isley nodded and started to head off towards Boulder. Meanwhile, Jason found a large rock to sit on where he kept vigil on the other three, making sure that none of them would try and do anything rash. At least not yet. Mobias sent a death glare at the boy but was ignored, much to his ire.

He was going to get him back for this, just he wait! Nobody made a fool out of him and got away with it.

Nobody.

* * *

(1) I'd do more but I have no idea as to the mechanics of this so it will be one mystery left unsolved. Girls, you know what I am talking about and guys...eh, better luck next time.


	10. A Return to Normalcy

Author's Note: Okay boys and girls, I am nearing a state of emergency. You see, I am in need of an OC, just one little OC that I can kill off with no remorse, nothing major. I had hoped that with last chapter's Author's Note that some of you, the exceptions being Archsage Soren and ShadowMajin, would have offered some OCs up to me but no one seems to be taking it seriously. And for those of you who are taking me seriously, you're not taking me seriously enough. The only fic here that's guaranteed to be updated here is The Eternal Encore so c'mon, help me out, will ya?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

A Return to Normalcy

Solo jolted awake as soon as the sound of a strong wind blowing past the house reached his ears but instead of doing anything about it, he just crushed his head into the couch cushion he was laying on and groaned out loud to himself. Seconds later, his mind had gracelessly shoved the memory of the slight noise out and now he was in the post-sleep stupor that so many fell victim to.

All he wanted to do was to go back to sleep, damn it!

And just as it seemed like he was going to return back to his precious slumber land, a noise began buzzing nearby, preventing him from succeeding. As the seconds ticked by, his mind began to recognize the "buzz" as a human voice one that was telling him to…untie me?

Lifting his head up, he blinked his bleary eyes taking in his surroundings that definitely weren't the cold, solid walls he was so used to seeing every morning. In fact, it looked like he was in somebody's house.

In a rush, the previous two days came back to him and he remembered. He and Duo had escaped, found some town in the middle of nowhere, and had taken some China guy hostage or something. Looking down the stretch of couch, he could see the proof of Duo's smaller body curled up on the other end of the couch and when he turned his head, he saw the China guy he had tied to a chair the night before. Huh, you didn't see that everyday.

"Are you just going to sit there or are you going to untie me?" an angry voice reached his ears and then proceeded into his brain. Oh yeah, they were leaving today, weren't they?

"Hold your horses, you Chinese bastard," he swore and he forced his body up from the comfortable spot he had slept in.

"I'm Japanese," the guy snarled, pissed, but Solo couldn't muster the energy to say anything to that.

Except for, "Same difference."

Not bothering to untie the knots in the restraints, Solo simply tore them off and trudged back to the couch where he promptly collapsed against it, desiring to go back to sleep.

Of course, everything looked to be against him this fine morning as that guy was now poking at him or something, saying something about him and Duo leaving. Getting irritated, he snatched the guy's wrist when one of his hands got to close and as he squeezed it warningly, he was satisfied to hear a popping noise.

"Don't touch me," he grumbled.

"I wouldn't have to if you and your friend would leave already!" the China guy yelled at him.

"Solo…" he heard Duo's voice whine. "Make it stop…"

Well, that pretty much clinched it. There was no way he was going to be getting anymore sleep, now was he? Releasing the captured wrist as he sat up, Solo stretched his arms and legs, trying to get the sleep out of them, and stood up once more.

Ignoring the glare being sent at him by the China guy as he rubbed his wrist, Solo said, "Get up Duo. We gotta get goin'."

Receiving a whine of complaint from Duo, the braided boy nonetheless uncurled his body and sat up, yawning cutely as one of his hands rubbed his eyes. Of course, this only caused the blond to yawn widely himself, soon followed by the China guy holding his wrist. Chain reaction, cool.

"C'mon Kid," Solo said, "We gotta go rob a McDonald's or something so get your lazy ass in gear."

"Screw you too Solo," Duo yawned.

Blinking at the unexpected curse, Solo just shrugged his shoulders and stood up off the couch again. Flexing his arms one more time to stretch them, he strolled over to where Duo sat and grabbed the end of the boy's braid. Using it as a leash, the blond forced the boy to follow after him, as the braided boy behind him began to curse up a storm. Huh, didn't know Kid knew _those_ words. Was Reaper teaching him those?

He'd have to ask him about that later…

So now they were outside, hardly anybody out in the streets at this time in the morning. Looking at the grey clouds that covered the sky, Solo had the urge to go back to the China guy's house and sleep some more but he had told Duo they were going to rob something. Speaking of Duo, he let go of his hold on the boy's braid, bringing an end to the swearing tirade the boy was on. A second later, he felt Duo jump onto his back, his legs wrapping around his waist, and small hands tugging at his blond locks. Now he was starting to get a little worried; he felt no pain from his scalp as Duo pulled on his hair.

The groan of protest coming from his stomach, though, was enough to take his mind off that and start looking for some place with food in it. Apparently Duo was having similar thoughts as the boy stopped his attempt at avenging his hair but remained on the larger boy's back.

Not liking the quiet, Solo spoke up, "So what do you feel like having?"

"Dun know," he heard the soft voice answer.

"Then how about ya get off my back until you can figure it out?" he suggested.

"Nope!"

"Freeloader," he grumbled but didn't say anything else as his eyes began to scan their surroundings, looking for a place that would promise them some nourishment.

---

Relena had been quite impatient this morning and had skipped breakfast so that she could see if Heero was still alive. Along the way, she crossed paths with Dorothy and the two continued on their way to her boyfriend's house. The girl could only hope that Heero was all right and those two monsters were gone.

A hop and a skip later, the two blonde girls had returned to the Yuy residence, Relena pressing the doorbell incessantly until someone answered the door, preferably Heero. It seemed like the best case scenario was coming true; Heero had answered the door and had swept her into his strong arms, given her a breathtaking kiss as he held her. There was no sign of those two boys around and that sat just fine with her.

The nightmare that had kept her up half the night was over and done.

"You're sure they're gone?" Dorothy asked when they were back inside the house.

"Positive," Heero answered as he ate from a bowl of cereal, offering the girls some as well. "It was really weird. They didn't stay and have breakfast or anything. Solo just woke up and dragged Duo out the door with him."

"Wait, who are Solo and Duo?" Dorothy asked, confused.

"Those were their names," Heero answered matter-of-factly.

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's what they kept calling one another."

"And why are you asking about something silly as that?" Relena demanded. "They're gone and we don't have to worry about them anymore. Let's just go to school and pretend that what happened yesterday didn't happen."

"What am I going to do with you Relena?" Dorothy muttered to herself but said nothing that would start a debate between her and her best friend. It wasn't as if this was the weekend where they could stay at Heero's home and do what they wanted. No, they still had school, especially since it was Thursday and it wasn't a holiday.

Plus, she didn't want to get a tardy. Talk about starting the day off on the wrong foot…

However, she was ignored by the two lovebirds in the room as Relena was fully determined to make her beloved boyfriend forget all about the two boys that had held him against his will by playing a very heated game of tonsil hockey. The blonde girl was fully straddling Heero's hips while he sat on the couch, the girl in the odd position of being the dominate one, a role that Heero usually took.

Hearing an "Ahem!" come from Dorothy, Relena managed to tear her face away from her boyfriend long enough to cast her best friend a look of apology before responding to an uncharacteristic whine that came from Heero. In a huff, Dorothy marched back to the front door where she would wait for the other two to come back to their senses. Sure she could walk to school by herself but that would be so boring without someone else to talk to… Besides, what would the others at school say to each other if they saw her arrive at school without Relena?

Opening the door, she took in a deep breath of fresh air, hoping that the sound of the door hinges squeaking would do something to stop Relena and Heero from going all the way.

She jumped as a loud booming sound from downtown invaded her ears, her heart skipping a beat at the unexpected stimulus. What was that? Looking towards downtown, she was sure her heart had skipped another beat at the sight of a pillar of smoke rise towards the sky.

---

Breaking into the closed restaurant had been easy. All Solo had to do was pull on the door and the lock broke from his strength alone. Even as he held it open so that Duo could enter before him, he could still see the piece of metal that had previously deadbolted the door shut sticking out. Closing the door without another thought behind him, he had made a beeline for the restaurant's pantry, Duo following after him like a loyal puppy dog.

Halfway there, a teen girl who had been heading towards the door, keys in a hand, stood there frozen, staring at them. Like the looks of the two girls from yesterday, she looked like she was about to go off on them with her voice. Fortunately, Duo seemed to have learned something about girls from yesterday as well and froze the girl in time. Smirking at the still living girl, trapped in one single second, he just flipped her the bird, a gesture that the blond idly noticed his braided partner-in-crime copy as he too passed the girl.

Anybody else they happened to encounter on their way to the kitchen and pantry met the same fate as the girl. Then there was the pleasurable activity of actually raiding the pantry itself. Since they weren't as hungry as the first time they had done this, their raiding was more controlled.

As they left, several loaves of bread tucked under their arms, Solo himself still working on a half eaten apple and Duo an orange, the two headed back out into the streets, not caring if anybody saw them. After all, what could any _normal_ person do against them?

Nothing, that's what.

"You know, stealing is a crime."

Looking to a side, Solo ended up doing a double take. Standing a ways from them was a boy around their ages dressed in some stupid looking leather (rubber?) clothes or whatever it was they were made of.

Swallowing the bite of apple still in his mouth, he demanded, "Who the hell are you?"

The other boy blinked owlishly at him as the blond took another bite out of his apple. Frowning, the boy said, "You couldn't have forgotten about me already, Solo."

In response, Solo just shrugged his shoulders and took another bite.

Narrowing his eyes, the boy said coldly, "Maybe _this_ will jog your memory."

Two nearby parked cars shuddered then both began to rise up in the air without anything supporting them. Raising his eyebrows at the sight, Solo made no comment nor did he take another bite of his apple. The boy smirking at them, the cars, one at a time, flung themselves at the two boys.

"Aw shit!" Solo swore as he dropped the food he was holding in favor of extending his arms out to catch the first car. Twisting his waist, Duo ducking instinctively, Solo swung the flying car like a baseball bat at the second car, sending the car straight back at the other boy. Giving the flying automobile a bored look, the boy waved his hand, as if swatting a bug away, but lo and behold the car acted as if it had been swatted away, hurling away into one of the nearby buildings. The explosion that followed was more than enough to attract the attention of the townsfolk who were coming out like wasps to investigate the disturbance.

"Why are you making a nuisance of yourselves?" the boy sighed melodramatically. "I'm just here to take you back to the base. You wouldn't want any of these poor people to get hurt, would you?"

Solo snorted. "We ain't goin' back, asshole and no, I don't give a shit what happens to these people."

That certainly took the boy off guard as he stared flabbergasted at Solo's statement. Taking the opportunity, Solo threw the car he was still holding onto at the boy in an attempt to take him out. At the last minute, the boy got a hold of himself and stopped the car just as it was about to hit him. He wasn't even touching the car yet it was just there, sitting up in the air…

That's when it snapped together in Solo's mind. "Hey, you're that kid with the mind powers, ain't ya?" he demanded.

The boy scowled and the car then began to crumple up as some invisible force squeezed it, the automobile finally giving in and blowing up, causing many of the growing crowd around them to turn around and flee.

"My name is Isley!" the boy snarled, pissed off. "And they aren't psychic powers, they're telekinesis, you moron!"

"Geez," Solo grumbled. "Ya don't have ta go all defensive on me, ya know?"

"Solo…" he heard Duo mumbled from behind, a small hand tugging at his newly purchased pants.

Glancing back at the braided boy quickly then back towards Isley, Solo said, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"That's not going to work, you know?" Isley suddenly chirped in a sing-song voice.

"Don't tell me, you can read my mind, can't ya?" Solo grounded out.

"You bet!" Isley confirmed.

"That so? Then read this!"

Isley's face contorted into a look of disgust. "Aw…AWW! That was…how could…that's just physically impossible! Your mind…it's so FILTHY!"

"Heh heh," Solo chuckled to himself.

"If I hadn't been ordered to bring you back alive, I'd kill you for that!" Isley snarled. "But I think I'll settle for ripping your legs off!"

"Oh hell no!" Solo swore. Leaping away from the spot he had just been standing in, shoving Duo away as far as he could, the concrete ground blew up shrapnel of small rocks that were sent whizzing through the air. While Solo could handle getting hit with these without feeling anything and Duo could make a shield of frozen time to protect him, the other normal people who were still around weren't so lucky. "Idiots," Solo muttered to himself, ignoring the blood coming from the nearby wounded as he grabbed hold of the nearest object he could get: a fire hydrant.

It was too easy pulling the little red hydrant out of the ground but the water spout that ensued caught the blond off by surprise. Nonetheless, with all his might, he threw the hydrant at Isley, the metal object zooming through the air at hyper speed towards its intended target. But then the hydrant bounced off some invisible shield and went hurdling away where Solo was sure he heard it hit someone.

"Close one," Isley commented, "but you're going to have to do better than that."

Growling, Solo cracked his knuckles. "You got it."


	11. Brain vs Brawn

Author's Note: At last, the chapter all you action junkies have been waiting for. The first real fight between our superpowered boys takes place at last. I'd like to give a big thanks to shinigamiinochi for helping out with my OC dilemma and another thanks to Nebelkind for trying to help as well. I still wait for the OC you're working on. However, I am still in the market for more OCs so if any of you care to help me out, please don't hesitate. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, violence

Brain vs. Brawn

Never before had Kid Duo ever seen his idol, the one person that he admired and looked up to, look so fierce as he did in the instant he cracked his knuckles. Even from where he stood, Solo's green eyes flashed to their ominous amber and Duo gulped nervously.

He almost felt sorry for that other boy, what's his name, Isley! Really, he did.

However, as Solo began to tense in preparation of a fight, Duo tried calling to his other, the one he could always depend on to handle scary situations like this. Much to his dismay, his other was…sleeping…at least, that's what it felt like.

If he was scared before, now he was terrified. Always, whenever he had needed the other him, he was there, ready to take over. Now, however, he just couldn't be bothered.

Solo launched himself straight at Isley, a fist cocked back and eager to hit the other boy brutally. In the next second, Solo was suddenly flying off into a different direction, straight into one of the buildings on either side of the road. Duo winced. Even he could have told Solo that running at Isley wasn't the best strategy.

"Pathetic," Isley stated, unknowingly agreeing with Duo's own thought.

Minutes passed and nothing happened. Solo did not coming raging out of the building like Duo thought he would. Even Isley was frowning as a look of concentration came upon his face, trying to determine where Solo was and what he was up to by locating his source of thought.

Eyes widening suddenly, the street beneath Isley's feet fractured and crumbled, the surprised boy falling into the resulting hole. A few seconds later, Duo could have sworn he heard a loud smacking sound followed by Isley's body shooting out of the hole and landing a ways down the street, bouncing on the pavement like a rag doll. Jumping out of the hole was none other than Solo, a shit-eating grin splitting his face.

"How's that for pathetic?" the amber-eyed blond taunted.

From the distance, Duo could see Isley's head snap up, soon followed by the sudden explosion of earth caused by the telekinetic shockwave shot at them, the street rupturing like a wave was passing through it. Calling upon what knowledge he had of his own powers, Duo created a barrier of frozen time to meet the psychic shockwave, not only succeeding in stopping the attack dead in its tracks but also capturing the raw mental energy within it.

He heard Solo let out a breath of relief at the unexpected aid. From where he was, Isley was staring in shock, unbelieving that his own attack had been stopped. With the force of his will backing him, Duo used his barrier offensively, sending it straight at their attacker. Since Isley couldn't see time like a car or a building, he was thus defenseless as frozen time collided with him, bringing with it his frozen psychic shockwave. Needless to say, the telekine—whatever he was took not only the brunt of Duo's attack but his own as well.

Solo whistled. "Good move, Kid."

Duo found himself blushing at the praise.

---

Pushing himself up from here he landed after that last blow, Isley found himself truly furious, not only at the two rogues but at everything. He was not built for this type of combat nor was he able to take on this much physical damage without being severely crippled by it.

He was going to have to turn the tables and do so quickly. He couldn't let this conquer him so easily. Maybe he should show those two what he could really do…

Scanning his eyes at his surroundings, he read up local advertisements, the names of stores, even license plates on cars that had yet to become casualties of this fight. As these knew bits of knowledge entered his brain, he could feel with a shiver going down his spine that his power was not only recovering but growing. Closing his eyes, he began to focus his power into a single point in his body so that when he unleashed it, the amount of power that would be at his beck and call would be equivalent to that of a nuclear bomb.

When his eyes snapped open once more, they were no longer their plain brown but ice cold blue.

---

"I don't think he's getting' up," Solo commented, his eyes squinted and his hand acting like a visor where it was perched on his forehead. "Whatever ya did, it really did something ta him."

Duo only nodded, unsure. The braided boy wasn't as sure as Solo was when it came to fighting so his confidence wasn't exactly high.

When the two nearest lamp poles uprooted their selves from the sidewalk, being held up over the ground by an invisible force, Duo knew that his suspicions of this fight not being over were confirmed. But that wasn't the worst, oh no. Isley also returned, hovering in the air as little blue bolts of electricity surrounded him like an aura. The severe expression on Isley's face was not reassuring, not one bit.

Quickly, Solo raised his fists back up, ready to rumble and Duo focused on controlling his powers while crying out internally for his unresponsive other.

"Are you afraid?" Isley's quiet voice asked ominously. "You should be. You have no idea of what I'm about to do to you."

"Why don't ya just shut your trap already?" Solo challenged.

Isley's blue eyes snapped to Solo and suddenly, the blond's body began to tremble, even as his hands rushed back to cling to his head in agony. When those eyes snapped over to Duo, the braided boy soon learned what it was that Solo was experiencing as immense pain throbbed in his brain, tearing apart all his mental capacities into shreds. The pain was taking over all of his senses, keeping him from even thinking a thought. Like Solo before him, Duo's hands clutched at his head but unlike the blond, Duo crumpled down to his knees, curling into the fetal position in a desperate attempt to relieve himself of the pain.

Solo was still on his feet and even though the intensity of the mental pain Isley had projected into his mind had diminished a bit, it was still powerful enough to keep him from rushing the prick. Seeing Duo collapse as he did was just another spark in the bonfire that was raging inside him but he…just…couldn't…do something…

Then he was hit by something solid; one of the floating lamp posts to be precise.

"Home run!" Isley crowed as the blond crashed through building after building until he bounced upon the pavement of another street, finally stopping after skidding straight into a moving car.

Metal crumpled behind him and the fine particles that were once part of the car windows and windshield erupted out into the street. Despite all this, the only pain Solo felt was in his head; his body just felt maybe a little numb-like but there wasn't a scratch or bruise on his skin from all that.

He pushed himself away from the twisted remains of what used to be a police car. For a second, he wondered if the guy still driving it was still alive before his old street habit of "fuck the cops" came back and he discarded that concern instantly.

"Wow, you're still moving."

Looking up with a scowl, he saw Isley floating there and behind him, floating as well but still curled up in the fetal position, was Duo. The blond narrowed his eyes.

"It's gonna take more than that ta hurt me," he declared heatedly.

"Is that so?" Isley said airily, a malevolent smirk growing on his face. "How about we see exactly how much you can take?"

"Gladly!" Solo snarled as he grabbed the ruin car behind him and threw it at the other boy, not caring about the injured driver still inside.

---

Downtown had never looked this rundown in ages. Yet the destruction that Dorothy encountered as she arrived at the scene struck her with fear. She could see people that she had known all her life lying on the broken up road, bleeding and crying out in pain.

It was a horror she had never imagined in her wildest dreams.

Boulder was a small town in the middle of nowhere and because of that there wasn't enough medical attention that could be given in a scenario like this. There was only one doctor in the whole town and three nurses at the most. There was also the police who were there trying to maintain some semblance of order even though they were completely out of their league.

Dorothy had always wished for something exciting to happen, whether to her or to this town, but this was just too much. What could have caused all this?

"Dorothy, I need you to move for me," she heard an authoritative voice say to her, a voice that she had heard all her life since childhood but now it seemed so far away, so surreal as she continued to stare at the nightmarish scene before her. "Dorothy, snap out of it girl! Dorothy!"

Jumping slightly, she found herself back in control of her body, the chief of police himself in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, his face showing concern. "What were you saying?" she asked as she cleared her muddled mind.

"I need for you to get away from here," the man instructed, no humor anywhere in his voice.

"What caused all this?" she demanded, gesturing to the horrors before her.

"I don't know myself," the officer replied. "I keep hearing about three boys doing impossible things. All I know is that these boys, if that is what they are, are on another street or something. Now please Dorothy, go on home and lock yourself up there. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," she answered and turned away to leave. Glancing back, she saw the chief of police had shifted his attention elsewhere. Taking the opportunity, she began to dart to a side street that led nowhere near her home. However, that was when she was intercepted by Relena and Heero.

"Dorothy? What happened here?" she heard her best friend ask her, her face unnaturally pale. Relena's face had a look as if she had recently vomited.

"I don't really know," Dorothy told her. "I heard that some boys are responsible for this."

"Who were they?" Heero demanded, his hands balled up into fists.

"That's what I'm going to find out," Dorothy said. "You want to come?"

She only stayed long enough to see Heero nod at her and she was off. She didn't have to look back to see that not only was Heero following her but Relena as well.

---

It hurt even to think, Duo found, and he remained curled up into a ball, hoping to somehow ignore the pain, as if that would do him any good. He couldn't feel the street against him, on any side, but his head hurt him too much that he didn't bother to figure out what was going on.

He could hear the grunts from Solo as his only friend fought with this horrible boy named Isley. He could hear things ripping apart, things being crushed, things being broken, but he didn't pay any of that any mind. Sure the pain in his head had dulled somewhat but it wasn't like he experienced psychic attacks every day.

He could only hope that Solo could put a stop to this so that the pain would stop, that is, if it could be stopped.

---

The sounds that Duo heard around his mental pain were not far off from the truth. It seemed that everything was tearing itself apart with the intent of trying to tear Solo to shreds. Sidewalks erupted into a haze of rubble that was thrown at the blond soon followed by pieces of surrounding cars that had managed up to this point to survive only to be torn apart and thrown at the long-haired teen.

And all this was being done with the power of Isley's brain. Go figure.

But if there was one thing that Isley was, it was definitely smart as he soon realized that small projectiles would not work against Solo. Much to Solo's dread, the nearby buildings began to rip to pieces, those pieces were much bigger than Solo himself. Now how would he survive this attack? Well, he'd have to settle for something simple. Every time a chuck of building got too close to him, he'd punch it and shatter it into smaller piece with Isley would discard, deeming them unnecessary.

The only objects that didn't shatter into unusable pieces were the mostly intact cars which would only fly away a short distance, dents in their metal exteriors being the only sign of damage, before Isley regained control of it and sent it right back at him. When batting away one automobile, the vehicle didn't go too far as it smashed into a building that was oddly modern in town that had that old feel to it. What did that mean? Well, there was an amazing explosion of glass if you were wondering and each and every jagged shard of glass was caught by the power of Isley's mind.

Well, shit.

Slamming his foot onto a specific point in the street, Solo caught the flipping manhole cover and used it as a shield to defend himself from the barrage of glass shards that Isley through at him. It wasn't as if he was afraid they would hurt him or cut his skin; it was more like he wanted to protect his hair. Like hell he would risk letting it get cut up by something like _glass_.

"C'mon Solo, is that all?" Isley drawled as soon as the glass shards stopped hitting his makeshift shield. "I'm getting bored here just watching you."

"Maybe if ya let me hit ya then ya wouldn't be so bored," Solo snapped, glaring at the other boy over the manhole cover.

"Why would I do that?" Isley countered.

"Maybe because you're acting like a pussy and using your mind powers all the time," Solo retorted and threw the manhole cover at Isley like a Frisbee. Yawning exaggeratedly, Isley didn't even bother to raise a hand up as he swatted the cover away with his mental powers.

Growling, Solo kneeled down and stabbed his fingers into the street, forcibly pulling two chucks of the road off the ground to use as projectiles against the telekinetic. There too were also deflected and this time Isley really did yawn.

"Is that all you have left?" the boy demanded.

Clenching his fists, Solo just settled on glaring at the boy.

That was all the blond would be able to do as Isley held his hands out in front of him, focusing the blue blots of mental energy that was surrounding him until there was a violet, shining orb concentrated between the hands. Grinning wickedly, Isley fired a violet blast at Solo, the blond jumping out of the way in the nick of time. From the way the street trembled beneath him, Solo supposed that it had been a good idea to move. Unfortunately, he was a bit too caught up in his thoughts as another violet blast was shot at him, impacting him directly in his chest. However, there was no explosion; the invincible blond finding himself being held up in the air as his body was surrounded by the violet energy.

The energy held him in midair for only a second before it slammed him into the nearest building only to stop him short with some invisible barrier most likely formed through Isley's mental powers, the force still holding immediately sending him into another direction without a second's respite. His body was tossed through the air like a rag doll over and over again and always flinging him in a random direction, sometimes actually hitting one of the buildings, sometimes the street, other times just the same force that was holding him up. In no short time he began to think he was a baseball from the way he was being thrown about. Why did he think this? Well, maybe that had to do when the pressure the invisible force lightened slightly but then crashed into him harshly. He barely felt his body breaking through yet another wall nor did he feel his body ricochet off the polished wooden floor that was no longer clean and shiny. In fact, the one thing that clued him in that he was indoors was the fact that he was slowly sliding down a brick wall, gravity taking its sweet time dragging him back down to the floor.

Blinking dazedly, he noticed that the hole he had made in the front of the building practically encompassed the entire wall. From this enormous entrance, he watched as Isley entered the building, a smug smile on his face. Duo's small body was still hovering over the floor due to Isley's mind keeping him afloat but as soon as the tall boy got into a respectable distance from Solo, he tossed Duo's small form into an undamaged wall carelessly.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" the boy taunted.

In answer, Solo only spat at him, surprised that there wasn't any blood in his spittle. His face contorting into a furious scowl, Isley forced his powers into Solo's mind, causing untold agony in the blond's head. The whole world was becoming distorted; because of the pain he couldn't tell which way was up and which was down, whether or not he was propped up against a wall or the ceiling, if he was feeling anything at all other than the pain. He was taking long, loud gasps of air when Isley decided to let up on the incredible mental pressure but he still kept Solo's mind under his mental thumb.

"Had enough yet?" Isley inquired, speaking as if he was talking about the weather.

Solo only answered with a groan of pain.

Smirking, Isley said, "I think you have had enough. Time to be getting back home."

"W-wait," Solo managed to croak out despite the fog of pain that clouded his mind. Through the quagmire, he managed to latch onto a thought, one that he desperately did his best to hide from the telekinetic telepath. "C-can't I have a last w-word?"

"Always having to get the last word, eh?" Isley commented with a chuckle. "I guess I can grant you that."

Mustering the strength still left in his body, Solo managed to wheeze out…something. Isley frowned and demanded that he repeat himself. Feeling the agonizing hold on his mind lighten as Isley's instinctual curiosity got the better of him, Solo managed to say a little louder what he wanted to say.

"Jeepers…creepers…where'd ya get those…peepers…"

"What?" Isley frowned, staring at Solo as if he lost his mind.

Continuing heedlessly, "Jeepers…creepers…where'd ya get those eyes?"

Isley's patience was running thin by this point. Solo had to have lost his mind. What he was babbling about was utter nonsense! Maybe he shouldn't have gone so hard on him…

Suddenly, he felt a stab of…something pierce through his thin body. Air! He couldn't get enough air in his body… What was…happening to him?

Telepathically, he scanned the room, trying to find the source of this attack when his mind encountered a void, one that held only death in it and it was focused solely on him.

That was the last he saw in his mind's eye as his whole world exploded into nothing but dust.

---

Just like that, all the mental pressure was gone. Solo found that he could breath easier now and he took a long breath of air…

…only to start hacking up a storm as he got a lungful of dust.

However, he wasn't the only one suffering as there was another source of coughing. It seemed even in death Isley was trying to hurt him somehow but as the dust cloud that was once a living person began to settle and clear away, Duo became visible to Solo's eye, the braided one still coughing.

It was with a sense of relief when he saw Duo's crimson red eyes bore into him, even thought the face they accompanied was anything but comforting.

"Solo," Reaper Duo began ominously, "what the fuck is going on here?!"


	12. How to Solve a Pest Problem

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

How to Solve a Pest Problem

It took a bit of time for Solo to catch his breath and a little more time before he could stand up and keep himself from falling. All the while, Duo complained, quite nosily he might add, about Solo taking his sweet time. This side of Duo apparently had no patience whatsoever and Solo could be seen gritting his teeth as he recovered from Isley's mental assault.

"You done yet?" Duo demanded as the blond got to his feet, wobbling slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, prick," Solo muttered to himself.

Seeming to have not heard him, Duo asked, "So what do we do now, oh wise one?"

The braided one was unaffected by the amber-eyed glare that was shot at him. In fact, he was oblivious to it even as he took it face first.

"What? You forget how to talk or something?" Duo demanded.

"Will you just shut up for a minute?!" Solo roared. "I have a goddamn migraine or something and you talkin' ain't helpin'."

"Well excuse me!" Duo huffed, crossing his arms.

"Damn right," Solo muttered, pressing two fingers against his temples, trying to soothe away his headache. Isley really did a number on him, hadn't he?

It was perhaps only a minute before Duo moaned aloud, "So bored! You done yet?"

Ignoring any forthcoming response from the irritated blond, who just death glared at him, the braided one glanced towards the large hole in the wall, wondering momentarily what caused the blond to get so pissy when his eyes caught something. Maybe it had been the wind or maybe it had been something else but he could have sworn that he had seen something, something like hair… And did his ears deceive him or was that a hushed whisper with a high tenor? He would have thought it was Solo but that guy's voice was too deep, too bass.

His brow furrowing, he concentrated intently on his powers, diving deep into the deep, dark well where its immense might was held. What he had planned was going to take a _lot_ of power but it should be over quickly and he should have his answer just as fast. He had never done something like this before but hey, there was a first time for everything, right?

Unleashing his powers, he stopped time, not just in a concentrated area like he was used to but everything, even up into that whole space time continuum thing. Everything was frozen and using tendrils of his power to search quickly through this massive undertaking, he felt a lifeforce…no two…no, three of them!

And just like that he let go and everything resumed.

Now _his_ head was pounding with a headache and he made a mental note to himself not to try something like that again, ever. It was just too much to do in too much space that was the universe itself and to hold it all for as long as he had, even though to everyone else not a second had passed, that in and of itself was an endurance trial, like playing soccer.

That was if he knew what soccer was.

But nonetheless, he had his answers and that was all that mattered. Already, the well of power was refilling quickly, a little talent that he had figured out that only he had since he had observed others expend a lot of power but recovered much slowly. In fact, he was almost back to full power and Solo was still rubbing the sides of his head with his fingers, completely unaware that he was right next to him panting like a dog for all of sixty seconds.

Smirking to himself, he knew that he would be able to hold this one over the guy's head but that would have to wait for later. He had some rats to catch first.

Casually, he began to stroll over to the makeshift entrance in the building and wave a hand. If his guess had been right, and he knew it was, then their rodent problem, all three of them, were now held in a small area of frozen time. Popping his head out into the open, he saw three teenagers, two girls and a guy, all familiar, frozen in place except for their eyes which were looking every which way in panic.

"Hey blondie!" he called. "We's got ourselves some mice!"

---

Jason Ciliars, a young man who was not one to lose his head easily but had an ego the size of Texas, was currently disciplining two of his unofficial subordinates, i.e. the twins. He was sitting atop the back of one of them, not caring that he might be crushing him while he had the other in a headlock and was digging a knuckle into the boy's head sadistically.

The other boy, the one with the fire was a distance away, giving him a contemptuous look but Jason did not really see any threat from it. He could feel where the other boy was, he could feel him through the air that he could move at will. That guy had some sort of anger issues, not that Jason cared. There was no way he could take him, especially not after that earlier display, if you could call it that.

Finally letting off with his torturing of the twins, he took out the handheld radio and made to contact Isley to see what he was up to. When nothing came back, he was a bit worried, though not because he was concerned about the other's well-being. It was because the other hadn't made any sort of contact in at least half an hour and the sounds of destruction from the town had ended about ten minutes ago, maybe fifteen.

Deciding to try a different tactic, he changed the radio frequency and contacted home, requesting them to find out about what was going on with Isley. A few minutes later, he received the news that the MIA boy was a KIA and he almost broke the radio in his hand from the pressure he exerted on it as he squeezed it tightly.

This was…unexpected. Perhaps these guys were better than he had thought. No matter, he wasn't alone yet. There were still the twins and the fire dude over there but this time, he would have to study the two escapees, see how they fought, then dive into the action himself and finish things once and for all. Yeah, that was definitely a plan.

"So what do we do now, oh mighty leader?" the fire guy asked him, mockingly, a smirk nearly splitting his face in half.

Offering a smirk in reply, he retorted, "We're going in there. We need these guys alive so don't work them over too badly."

"YES!" both of the twins cried out, sparks crackling in the air around both of them.

The fire guy blinked, surprised, then scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. Seemed like his upbeat attitude was not what the hothead wanted to hear. As if he cared…

The wind around Jason began to pick up as he led the way into town.

---

Duo stalked around his three captives like a predator, his grin only serving to impress that vision. The three teens could only stare at the devious crimson eyes that had taken the place of the more innocent violet that they were used to seeing.

"So what do we have here?" the braided one purred. "Looks like we meet again, Ms. Eyebrows, Whiny Blonde, and Too Big For His Own Good Asian Boy. I was hoping that we would meet again."

"Duo," Solo sighed as he stepped out from the damaged building, "let them go."

"Why should I?" the aggressive personality countered, his eyes not leaving the three normal teens for a second. "They were spying on us. Who knows if they belong to the assholes in the lab coats?"

"They ain't spies," Solo stated exasperatedly. "Weren't you payin' any attention yesterday?"

"Not really," Duo shrugged.

"What about when you were called a liar?" Solo challenged. "I could've sworn ya were 'bout ta come out and tear that gal's throat out for that. Besides, how could ya have known that the other gal is whiny? I heard ya just now, ya know."

"You're just no fun," Duo pouted visibly, folding his arms over his chest sulkily.

Hearing loud sirens, Solo glanced to a side then another before pointing out, "Ya know we ain't gonna be alone fer long. Think ya can do something 'bout it?"

Looking at the rapidly approaching cars, which were coming towards them from both ends of the street, and were flashing red and blues lights all the while shrieking a loud alarm sound, Duo sniffed in disdain. Nonetheless, he raised a hand up and the police cars on one end of the street ran into what seemed to be an invisible barrier. The other fast moving cars crashed into the ones before them, the same reaction occurring to the cars behind those and the ones behind those ones.

Looking the other way, Duo created another barrier of frozen time but instead of keeping it in one place, he launched it forward where it swept up all the approaching cars like a bulldozer with dirt. The braided boy didn't even wince as one of the cars exploded and began to cause a chain reaction with the others.

Lowering both his hands, he shrugged and said, "Problem solved. Now what about them?"

Solo could only shake his head at that. He should have known that Duo, at least this Duo, would have taken care of the would-be danger as simply as he had. Looking back up at the three normal teens who were trapped in a single second, he waved a hand and said, "Let um go."

Not liking that decision one bit, Duo nevertheless did so, the three teens fell to their asses, their legs suddenly unable to hold them up as time unexpectedly began moving again.

The moment one of them were able to begin using their vocal cords again, it was the one whom Duo had affectionately nicknamed "Whiny Blonde" who began screaming, "You monsters! How could you?!"

"How could we what?" Duo asked as he prowled around the teens and placed his hands on the hysterical girl's head, resting his chin onto those very hands, his crimson eyes looking down from their perch at her.

Shrieking, the girl pushed the braided one away and scrambled over to the Japanese youth who took her into his arms protectively. "How…how could you kill those people?" she nearly screamed as she eyed Duo, terrified.

Moving over to Solo's side, he shrugged and said, "Shit happens?"

"Nice!" Solo crowed and raised a hand up to high five the other, which Duo reciprocated.

"That's not what she meant," "Ms. Eyebrows" growled, standing up with her hands fisted at her sides, her eyes glaring at the two long haired boys.

"Well look who decided to enter the conversation," Duo said sardonically, walking over towards the girl. "I was hoping to see you again," he stated as he grabbed a hold of her wrist.

Solo blinked as he saw how purple the girl's face was becoming and how the veins in her body began to stick out of her skin. Suddenly, it hit him what Duo was up to; it was the same thing he was done back in their cell when he had first met this side of him.

"Let her go Duo," he commanded, no trace of humor in his voice.

Glancing at him, Duo eyed the blond but did as he was told, letting go of his hold on the girl and not looking back as she felt to the ground, extremely fatigued from lack of energy.

"What got shoved up your ass?" Duo muttered, slipping his hands into his pant's pockets and looking put out.

"You were gonna kill her and you know it," Solo growled to the braided one, not amused in the slightest.

"That's what she gets for calling us liars," Duo grounded back, glaring back at the recovering girl.

"Ya still goin' on 'bout that?" Solo sighed.

"Hey, you got to put a sock in her mouth," Duo countered. "You didn't let me do anything to her and that ain't fair!"

"Life ain't fair," Solo said heatedly, "so get used ta it."

"Like hell we will!" Duo exclaimed, crimson eyes flashing brighter.

"Ya can say what ya like about it but there ain't nothin' ya can do 'bout it," Solo stated, turning away from his angry friend. Fortunately he hadn't closed his eyes as he had been wont to do. The amber-colored irises widening, he cried out, "Move!"

The Asian guy must have heard the urgency in the blond's voice, either that or he was just obeying Solo's order, because he had the Whiny Blonde still in his arms as he scrambled away, Solo also scampering to a side just as a fireball impacted the very spot they had been standing at. The heat from the fire had the air shimmering from it and Duo had at the last moment raised his trademark shield of frozen time to stop any debris from striking him, inadvertently protecting the girl that he had only moments before harmed.

"Damn it! Missed!"

"Don't worry about it. You'll get another shot."

Down the street from the five teens stood a group of four others, all of them not native of the area and each one of them dressed in black leather/rubber (or whatever they were made of) suits. From this distance, they could see that two of the boys had black hair, one of them longer than the other's with whitened tips while the other one's was shorter and spikier. The other two boys were tow-headed blonds who looked nearly, if not completely, identical to one another. With the exception of the one boy with black spiky hair who was scowling, the boys each had on a malicious smirk and were eyeing them all just the way Duo had been doing to the three normal teens.

"Oh great, Isley didn't come alone," Solo muttered to himself, glaring at the newcomers. "And look," he said aloud, "flame retard Mobias came with them. I'm so scared!"

The one named Mobias snarled and flames exploded from his hands furiously. However, a restraining hand from the other black-headed boy on his shoulder seemed to prevent him from acting since this one was the calmer of the two and looked vastly amused at Solo's comment. The two shorter blonds weren't holding their laughter in at all and were bawling out their mirth in Mobias' face.

"Enough," the black haired boy who looked like he was in charge suddenly snapped, his eyes becoming sharp. Calling out to the two longhaired escapees, he said, "Lets not make this harder on any of us, eh? Why don't you two just give yourselves up right now and I promise that we won't work you over…much."

"Oh, like that's suppose to reel us in, huh?" Solo replied sarcastically, raising his fists up.

"Hey, you guys gotta learn a lesson," the leader shrugged nonchalantly.

Not replying to that, Solo said to the three normal teens who were still there, "You guys might want ta get out of here. Things are 'bout to get ugly."

"Since when did you start caring about what happens to us?" the Asian boy demanded.

"I don't," Solo answered. "It's just you're gonna get in the way and I don't want to get your guts all over me, 'kay?"

Proceeding to ignore anything else the three bystanders might say or do, which happened to be getting the hell out of there, he turned his attention towards Duo whose crimson eyes were holding manic gleam, one that he hadn't seen since they first escaped. "You think you can handle what they can throw at us?" he asked.

"No problem," Duo purred. "I was getting bored anyway."

"Crazy," Solo muttered to himself before returning his attention to the latest threat to their freedom. "You ain't gonna take us alive!" he challenged.

"Can't say I didn't try," the lead boy said, shaking his head solemnly. "Guys, go have some fun with them."

The very second his hand left Mobias' shoulder, the fire wielder launched a large ball of flame at the two boys, specifically Solo. Solo just swore to himself and as he jumped away from what would soon be ground zero and heading away from the fire master, leading him to a different arena. Mobias, of course, took off after the blond, a malevolent grin on his face as flames nearly enveloped his body as he gave chase.

However, that left Duo alone with the remaining three boys, one which didn't seemed to be in any hurry to attack. That didn't mean that the other two, the twins, weren't going to do anything either. In fact the moment Solo and Mobias vanished from sight, the both began to complain.

"Aw man!"

"Why does he get to fight Solo?"

"He's such a jerk!"

"And an ass!"

"Yeah, he's an ass!"

"Excuse me!" Duo bellowed, annoyed. "I'm right here, ya know?! I'm not just some decoration you twerps!"

The two twins looked at each and conversed with one another.

"He is asking for it."

"Shouldn't let him feel lonely."

"Let's get him!"

"Yeah, let's!"

The air around the two began to crackle ominously and Duo narrowed his eyes. Already he was grasping at the time around him, ready to freeze it at a moment's notice and preparing to get up close to those two annoying _babies_. He was in a mood for killing, and the twins' voices quite frankly were getting on his nerves, what with the way they sounded just like one another. They probably had rhyming names too…

Each twin's eyes changed color, one flashing into a golden yellow while the other's became a solid yellow. In the next second, a bolt of lightning struck from between the two and Duo, caught off guard by the attack, froze as much time as he could, aiming for thickness rather than width, as the electrical surge struck before him.

He was nearly blinded by the explosion that resulted but he didn't stick around to see the results. Instead, he took the coward's way out and hightailed in out of there. He'd have to think of a way around that electricity first before he could even begin to think about getting in close to touch them.

Meanwhile, as the air was cleared of smoke by a gentle breeze, a large patch of the road was revealed to be melted, the air shimmering above it from the leftover heat that radiated from it. Beyond it, the two twins smirked but soon frowned as they saw they prey making a run for it.

"Aw, he's running away," one complained.

"Guess we're gonna have to chase 'um!" the other said and they grinned at each other.

Small electrical bolts flowed around each of them and soon they began to hover over the street, tiny lightning bolts raining from them to the ruined concrete beneath them like a lightning storm. Unhurriedly, the two made chase after the retreating braided one.

Their so-called leader watched after them but made no move to do anything other than to chuckle.


	13. Feel the Heat

Author's Note: Once again, the violence returns and this time it should beat the previous fight with Isley. Not holding my breath on it yet but I'm feeling pretty confident right about now. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, violence, death

Feel the Heat

Heero had never really been one to obey commands from someone he didn't know. In fact, even teachers had trouble getting him to do his classwork but somehow he always made A's. Now, when this stranger, Solo, had just told him to get out of there, he had been tempted to ignore that but with everything that had been happening in the past twenty-four hours, he was not inclined to be in a rebellious mood.

So, he had scooped up both Relena and Dorothy and had gotten the hell out of there.

And maybe not a moment too soon. As soon as he was out of sight of those guys, he could hear the destruction begin again. Like a catalyst, that only prompted him to speed up his flight until he was close to his house, in an area of town that hadn't been touched, at least not yet. He kicked open the door and dragged in the two girls with him before slamming the door shut and locking it.

Only then did it occur to him that a lock might not be any help.

Just look at the situation: there was Solo who could most likely break the door down by punching it, there was Duo doing whatever it was that he had been doing while not acting like his usual self, and then there were those other guys, one of which could burn the house down around their ears if he felt like it.

Never before had he ever felt so helpless and so outclassed. When it came to adversity, the most he had to worry about would be the rival football team, located in a town about a couple hours' drive from here.

Speaking about driving, perhaps it would be a good idea to get the hell out of dodge until this all blew over, maybe go to the convention his parents were at. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. No it was a great idea. The sooner they left the better.

"Heero? Are you even listening to me?" he heard Relena's voice and he had to come back to address his thoughts to the two girls who were looking at him expectantly.

"Did you say something?" he asked.

"Relena just asked what we were going to do," Dorothy told him, apparently getting over her strange lethargy. "Since you saw fit to take us here, what _are_ we going to do?"

"We're leaving," he stated. As he marched into his room, going straight to his desk where he began to rummage through a drawer, ultimately pulling out a set of keys. Having turn sixteen only a couple months ago, his parents had thought to be responsible enough to have his car, which had been their present to him. Even though it was a pickup that wasn't the cleanest thing around, it was still his. He had to prove to his parents that he deserved a newer car, like a Convertible or a Honda, and it would be with this pickup that he would prove it. Now, however, it was going to be their getaway ride as they hauled ass out of Boulder.

"What do you mean we're leaving?" he heard Relena demand, confused at his abrupt answer.

"Precisely that, Relena," he answered as he returned to the living room. "Do you think we're safe here with those guys in town? We need to get as far away as we can, while we are still able. Grab what you can now and let's go." Acting as he preached, he immediately began rummaging through his mysteriously depleted pantry, taking out anything that would be able to last them a few days. "Dorothy?" he called out. "Can you go into my parents' room and search their wardrobe? I think they have some emergency cash in there."

Placing what he had in his arms onto the table, he opened up a cabinet and drew out a trash bag. Opening it up, he began tossing what foodstuff he had taken out into the bag. Glancing up, he noticed the pile of clothing that Dorothy had bought for those two guys yesterday and took out another trash bag which he tossed over to Relena who was standing still, trying to come to terms with what was going on.

"Bag those clothes," he ordered. "We might need them later."

"Heero?" Relena questioned worriedly, the girl never having seen this side of the Japanese youth before.

"We don't have much time Relena," he stated, digging through cabinets and taking out canned foods, making a mental note to grab a can opener while he was at it. "We gotta get out of here, quickly."

"You heard him," Dorothy's voice spoke as the blonde girl returned to them, taking the trash bag out of Relena's hands and proceeding to stuff all the clothing on the floor in it. "We're almost out of time."

Coming out of her stupor, Relena nodded dazedly and bent down to help Dorothy out.

---

Fire blasted after Solo as he nimbly dodged out of the way at the last second. Rolling on the ground and getting to his feet, he glared at the black-haired boy who was balancing two fireballs in each hand, glaring at him with a malice he had never seen before.

"Stand still and let me hit you!" Mobias snarled at him as he sent another fire blast at the blond.

Fisting a hand, Solo punched at the street, making a small hole in it. Forcing his fingers beneath the paved concrete, he pulled his hand up, making a small section of the street flip up to take the full brunt of fire just as it was mere feet away from the blond. He could feel the manipulated rock tremble as Mobias' attack struck it but it held out.

"You bastard!" he heard Mobias scream at him and he chuckled.

Getting back to business, he dug both of his hands into the raised concrete and pulled up again, this time separating a chunk of the road and holding it above his head with ease. "Catch!" he yelled as he threw the piece of road at his would-be opponent.

Mobias' eyes widened comically and the fires in his hands extinguished immediately as he focused less on maintaining them and more on saving his own ass as he dived out of the way. Taking the opportunity, Solo closed the distance between them and landed a punch straight into Mobias' torso, sending the other flying straight into a building. His amber eyes blazed in pleasure at the feel of a soft human body impacting his fist and he secretly hoped that Mobias would be able to stand up after that last blow.

Then the building that Mobias had crashed into exploded as an enormous ball of flame tore through it. Even from where he was standing, Solo could feel the heat against his skin and he idly wondered if he hadn't made a mistake about selecting a flannel shirt to wear. The long-sleeved shirt was absorbing and trapping in the heat from the flames, causing his body to start sweating in an attempt to cool off. If he could've, he would've told his body it was just wasting its time as things were going to get a lot more hotter real quickly.

Emerging from the wreckage, Mobias glared at Solo in fury, his eyes shining an orange hue. "I'll get you for that!" he declared as he lobbed an enormous fire ball at the blond.

Solo managed to skirt the attack but the searing heat from the fire pierced through his clothing, zapping whatever strength it could take from the blond. In fact, Solo was a bit worried as the heat was great enough that it could set his one vanity, his hair, aflame. Reaching back quickly, he grabbed a hold of the long locks and shoved what he could under his vest but above his flannel.

There was no way in hell he was going to let his hair catch on fire…

Suddenly, a tendril of pure flame whipped at him and he barely managed to dance out of the way, caught completely off guard. Perhaps whip was not a far off description because the line of fire twisted and came back at him again, as if it really was a whip. Literally hopping, he backed away as quickly as he could, not wanting to get into skin contact with it. He had yet to experience fire on his person and he didn't plan on finding out if it could do damage to him, despite the fact he was seemingly invulnerable to everything else.

Better not to find out the hard way if he could get burned…

The fire whip arched again, streaking out to try and grasp a hold of him. It was a simple matter to dodge it but as he was in midst of doing so, Mobias used his _other_ whip to grab his ankle and throw him off balance. His first whip lost all its flexibility, becoming straight as a rod, which he used as a blunt instrument or at least tried to.

Solo caught the fiery rod with both of his hands, slightly smelling burning flesh despite the fact he felt no pain from it. He jerked the rod forwards but all Mobias did was release the fire powering the rod, make it moot. However, the remaining whip was still in use and Mobias took advantage of by sending Solo up into the air, the blond's movement through the air almost reminiscent of a previous fight.

Unlike that fight, Mobias shot out what could only be describe as a streak of flame that sliced at the blond like a bullet. Even though he wasn't particularly afraid of getting hit, human instinct called on him to twist his body to dodge it. The sudden tightening of the fire whip on his ankle pulled him back down and right into the path of another fiery streak that just managed to graze his side.

Impacting the street, Solo gritted his teeth as he threw his hand down to try and grab a hold of the whip still attached to him only for Mobias to pull it back in and away from the blond who took the opportunity to get back up to his shaking feet. Internal alarms blaring, he jerked his body to a side just as another streak of flame passed him by, scraping the sleeve of his flannel.

"What's the matter, blondie?" Mobias sneered, a hand holding the end of his whip while the other was shaped like a gun, smoke rising from his finger. "Scared of a little fire?"

Solo's eyes narrowed. Oh hell no, that asshole didn't just call him blondie. It was bad enough that he had Duo, the Reaper one, calling him that; there was no way he was going to let this one go. Jumping away from the fire whip as Mobias lashed out with it again, he grabbed hold of the nearest object he could get, which happened to be a lamppost. Pulling the long, metal beam out of the ground, he began to use it as a lance of sorts, much to Mobias' surprise as his fiery whip wasn't strong enough to stop the post from pounding into his midsection.

"Call me 'blondie' will ya?" Solo growled as he jabbed the metal beam into Mobias again. Taking a few wide strides, he swung the lamppost like a baseball bat and since he had closed some distance between himself and the fire wielder, he made direct contact and away his "ball" went.

Solo smirked widely as the sounds of a body crashed into brick wall after brick wall, his smirked widening with each and every crashing sound.

---

"Come back!"

"We just want to play!"

"We ain't gonna hurt ya…"

"…too much. Ha ha!"

Those light tenor voices were really grating on his nerves, Duo found, but as of right now, he couldn't give up his location just yet. He had found a perfect niche to hide out in and lie in wait for those twins to come close enough that their electricity wouldn't save them. This particular "fight" only really consisted of Duo running for his life, barely dodging electrical blasts and bolts while both twins relentlessly threw them at him and laughing all the while with those childish laughs. At first it had been tolerated, then it was creepy, now it was just plain annoying, like them.

"Where do you think he is, Dustin?"

"Don't know but he's gotta be alive somewhere, Justin."

Damn it, he knew it! Their names were practically spelled the same and rhymed with each other. His fingers twitched in irritation but he managed to keep himself from screaming and pulling his hair out. Those two were just begging to be killed…

Well why not act on that impulse? He focused on the well of power within him, pinning it down, holding it, so that when he acted he wouldn't be completely drained. Once again, he froze time, all of it in its entirety, just like when he had caught those three spies earlier. This time, however, he was going to do something different. He needed to be quick, though, since trying to hold on to something of this enormity was incredibly taxing, even for him.

Quickly, he expanded his mindset, grabbing a hold of various items, whittling them down with time itself in some cases to make them sharp, and moving them to encompass the area around the terror twins. It could have taking him only half a minute (he would know this to since he could control time to an extent) and already he could feel the massive strain pulling at him, pressure pounding in his temples.

With that, he released his hold on time and allowed it to continue moving once again.

"What the—!"

"How did—?!"

Duo found that he had to stifle his snickering. It must have been a surprise to see nothing one second then to find the air filled to the brim with all sorts of sharp and pointy things all aimed at you the next. He had chosen iron bars that he had broken to make sharp, jagged edges, chunks of buildings whittled into massive spears, anything that he could get a hold of, and all of it was being held up in midair by nothing but frozen time, time that he use like extensions of himself so that he didn't have to face either of the twins face to face.

With their ability to use electricity, that was the way he liked it.

From his little hiding spot, he watched gleefully as his carefully chosen weapons struck out at the twins. As Duo had predicted, the boys struck back at the assortment of objects with their electricity. Good thing he had them surrounded; that way he could attack from all angles and not just from one direction.

That's where being long distance fighters became a liability. It took both twins time to gather enough power to fight off the hovering objects with a bolt of lightning and Duo had strategically placed his weapons not too far from them so even though they had a few seconds before the assault reached them, it was not enough time to begin protecting their selves, at least in a practical sense.

They managed to deflect a metal bar and a broken champagne bottle the braided one had found but then a mediocre-sized spear of cement slashed one of the twin's arms, causing the small boy to cry out in pain. In some strange display, at least to Duo, the other twin shot a bolt of lightning at the wounded twin, a large shock that the boy's body absorb then used as a temporary static field to protect himself from the gauntlet of floating sharp objects.

As this progressed, Duo began to frown as the electricity in the air began to crackle around the twins, soon not even his homemade weapons were able to get close to the boys. Then the braided one had an epiphany; the twins were using one another to increase their own power! By working together, occasionally sending each other a bolt of lightning, they were both acting like one huge battery of pure electrical power, one having to be positive while the other was negative…

Fuck!

He was going to have to do something about this and fast. His eyes catching onto a metal bar that was flying about, he focused on it and warped it through time so that it was right next to him. Grabbing it, he crept out of his hiding place, sneaking until he was behind each of the twin's backs.

Even though he had exhausted his powers during this short fight, he was going to have to call on it again. Concentrating, he formed a dome over the two boys and _slowed_ time down, making sure that neither of the two noticed anything wrong by making the area affected large. Eyeing the two and observing as electricity moved in what could only be described as slow motion, he steeled his nerves and took the plunge.

He ran headfirst to the nearest twin, slowed time parting for him so that he didn't become a victim of his own powers. When he was mere feet from the closest twin, he twisted his body and jabbed his weapon of choice as hard as he could into the boy's back. He didn't stop pushing until he was sure the bar was embedded all the way through the boy's body and only then did he start making tracks away from what he had a feeling would become some sort of Hollywood drama.

He wasn't far off from that as the moment he was a distance away, he dropped his dome of slowed time and an ear-piercing scream destroyed the monotony that the fight had fallen into. However, the moment he dropped his dome, so did the rest of his floating treats, the sharp objects falling to the street, clattering and breaking against the surface.

The impaled twin was jerking spasmodically as the metal bar in his body conducted the electrical element surrounding and delivering raw shocks into his unprotected insides. He became overloaded as his body began to smoke, his skeleton lighting up beneath his skin occasionally.

"Dustin!" the other twin shrieked, letting go of his powers as he ran to share some overdramatic death scene with his brother, who by now was practically dead if he wasn't already, his body falling to the broken pavement. Duo, however, didn't really care.

If anything, he felt this ominous chill in the air and he slowly began to back away, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the scene before him. He was not at his full strength and he didn't have enough faith in his own abilities to believe that he would be able to overcome the inevitable onslaught that he knew was coming.

"You bastard!" the boy suddenly roared at him, the air around him crackling with suppressed power. "You killed my brother! DIE!"

How predictable…

Spinning around, Duo glared at the twin who shouted at him, just as the twin had launched an impressive-sized lightning bolt at him. Smirking, Duo focused his full concentration on making what could only be described as a sphere of frozen time. Holding his hands out like he was holding a sphere, his smirk widened as he watched the lightning bolt enter into the "hollow" space of the transparent ball. Due to his concentration and full undivided attention on this single spot of space, the entire bolt was swallowed into the invisible orb, crowding into it with nowhere else to go and trapped in a moment's time.

And voila, there now floated a ball of electricity surrounded in a cocoon of frozen time. One could almost see the frozen air as the volatile ball of energy stroked against its prison.

"Whoa! Cool!" the twin cried out, dazzled by the display, momentarily forgetting what he was doing.

"Isn't it?" Duo replied before shoving his hands in front of him forward, causing the hovering ball of electricity to fling itself straight at the small boy. At the last second, the braided one released his hold of that small space of time, letting the trapped energy explode outward right in the boy's face.

What once could have been called a smirk of triumph soon contorted into one that expressly said "Aw shit!" He watched in frustration as the single twin absorbed the electrical power, giggling childishly like he was being tickled.

Well, that had been just one huge waste of time, hadn't it?

The twin gave him an innocent smile, immediately alerting Duo that he was up to something that was anything but innocent. He was right.

It began with the shimming of the air around the single brother followed immediately by crackles that soon evolved into small bolts of electricity. From there, like a sudden explosion of energy, the small lightning bolts grew out from the boy's body to form what looked to be a giant dome made completely out of electric current, the rim of the dome literally ending mere inches from where Duo stood.

Acting quickly, he raised a wall of frozen time and attempted to shove the dome back but due to having exhausted his own powers, he was currently not in his finest form despite his quick-acting recovering ability. The twin continued to smile that creepy, innocent smile of his as he slowly began to advance on him, his dome of current pushing back against Duo's wall of time.

He was shocked to actually feel his wall press up against his hands and then push _him_ back. His arms were beginning to tremble with the effort of maintaining his only protection against an imminent electrocution. He gritted his teeth together tightly as droplets of sweat began to bead up on his forehead. The air around him began to crackle as bits of current was managing to pass through his barrier, signifying that he didn't have much time left, no pun intended.

Improvising with a sudden burst of ingenuity, he focused his power to take hold of the time that was just under his feet and sped it up. In effect, it acted like a conveyor belt and he satisfied to see the distance between himself and the twin increase. As an extra, even as he propelled himself back without moving his body physically, he sped up the time in the street and earth beneath him, causing the once solid ground to collapse in on itself, creating a very long and very wide trench.

Shooting a smug grin at the boy, he dropped his wall and took off as fast his feet were able to. He knew that his little obstacle would only give him maybe a few extra seconds to put some distance between himself and his remaining opponent but it would have to be some time he was going to use to figure out a way to short-circuit this last brat…

Wait…that was an idea.

Jerking his head up, he scanned his surroundings as best as he could, spotting something that looked like it could help. It may not look like much but it was going to have to do until he could think up of something else, preferable something that could end this little fight.

Skidding on his feet, he twisted his body to head down an intersecting street, all the while turning his head to judge where the remaining twin was. Seeing him just clear his trench, he yelled out an insult and started running again.

Hopefully he wouldn't catch up with him too quickly…

---

"Do we have everything?" Dorothy asked as she closed the passenger side door behind her.

The cab of Heero's truck only had one seat but it was long enough that three people sitting squeezed together could fit in it. Fortunately, since both her and Relena weren't that big anyway, that meant just a tiny ounce of room left to get comfortable in. Since it was obvious that Heero would be driving, Dorothy allowed Relena to claim the middle even as Heero got into the driver's seat, sliding the car key into the ignition.

"We should," Heero answered, starting up the car and checking the mirrors as he slid the stick into reverse. "Whatever we don't have, we'll buy along the way."

As the pickup moved backwards, Dorothy could feel her heart pounding in her chest. This was what she had wanted, right? Just a little excitement, some sort of adventure to take her out of her boring life. Sure, she was leaving everything behind; her parents were probably worried sick about her if they weren't victims of the catastrophe that was occurring downtown. But wouldn't they want her safe? Then she had to get out of town, quickly, put as much distance between her and those boys back there who were wrecking everything.

Shifting into drive, Heero, put his foot on the gas and started to haul their asses out of there.


	14. Winds of Flaming Fury

Author's Note: Back to the endless destruction we go. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, violence, death

Winds of Flaming Fury

Hadn't these people ever heard of sewers? Honestly, what did they do with all the crap they flushed down the toilet? Keep it in their houses or something? Even city folk had some sort of standards and were advanced enough to have sewers. When he had tried to duck into one while trying to evade a new barrage of fireballs shot at him by that irritating Mobias, Solo had only found that there weren't any underground tunnels beneath the ground, just a bunch of dirt and pipes that he was too big to fit in anyway.

So yeah, he had a lovely hole in the ground but it did nothing to protect him from the heat of the fire.

Needless to say, Solo was pissed.

Sure, earlier he had tunneled underground and gotten the jump on Isley but he hadn't really thought about that then. Now, though, he was just ticked off at that.

When Mobias had recovered from the little homerun special that the blond had laid on him, he hadn't been happy. To show how unhappy he was at that, he had furiously thrown fireball after fireball at Solo, each one getting closer to their target. Still in the high he had been in earlier, he had tried to use his lamppost once again as a baseball bat, this time using the fireballs as his balls. That hadn't turned out well. Now his brand new clothes were scorched and burned. The only things that seemed to be holding up were his shoes (which oddly didn't look any worse for wear) and that vest. His pants were fraying and half of one of the pant legs was completely burned up. Meanwhile, even though there were hints of flames having licked it, the flannel was managing to hold up, much to the blond's relief.

Mobias, though, just wouldn't let him get a chance to throw something at him or even get close. He had built some sort of fiery wall to cover him and the heat would boil the blond alive if he got too close. He had to find some way to cool this guy off.

As if growing bored of just throwing fireballs at him, Mobias suddenly had the gall to switch it up a bit by throwing his fire wall at the blond. As he tried to leap out of the way of this latest attack, he found that he nearly tripped over something red and metal. Hearing a cry of triumph, Solo jerked his head up to see a fire wall just about to collide with him and there was nothing he could do to dodge it due to the fact that the wall was fucking long. Crossing his arms in front of his face and sending up a prayer that his hair would survive this, he was engulfed in the intense heat that the fire produced.

Looks like he found an answer to a question: fire did indeed sting like a bitch.

Slowly lifting his head up to glare at the other boy, he was not pleased to see the cracked skin on his lower arms, the majority of the sleeves belonging to his flannel shirt having been burnt off by the fire. He could practically see the blood squeezing through the skin, the burns like one huge sunburn or something. Could it have been worse? Probably but he had other more pressing concerns.

Like if he still had his hair!

Feeling his head frantically, he was relieved to still feel that silky goodness that his blond hair possessed.

"Just how vain are you?" an annoying voice demanded and Solo returned his attention to Mobias. "Is your hair that important to you or something?" he sneered. "Maybe I should just get rid of it and maybe you'll take this fight seriously."

Solo snorted. "Oh and you keeping me away with your balls of fire is fighting? Why don't ya let me in close and fight me like a man?"

"Why stop with a good thing?" Mobias countered, smirking as he raised his hands over his head to begin forming a large version of his blasts. "I mean, if you can't hit me, then how can you beat me? Your powers are useless now Solo!"

"That's what you think," Solo growled. Keeping the other boy in his sights at all times, he began to show some attention to the red, metal thing that had tripped him up earlier. Was it ironic that it was a fire hydrant? Maybe but right now, he had to find a way to use it before Mobias threw that wicked looking fire ball that was growing with every second at him.

From another part of town, there was an earthshaking explosion that nearly knocked both boys off their feet.

"What the hell was that?!" Mobias demanded as he turned his face in the general direction that the explosion had come from.

And right there was his chance.

---

Duo was definitely not an athlete, he found, as he led the last lightning boy behind him towards a metal megalith that was made of pipes which sprouted from the earth and up into the sky, attaching to a large, round, metal thing at the top that had the words "Roadrunner Country: Beware" painted on it. This also showed that Duo may not be very smart either as any moron could tell you that electricity and metal liked each other.

A lot.

Alas, Duo did not know this, nor did he know anything about this metal tower either. He just hoped that maybe, just maybe, he could use the thing against bolt boy who was catching up behind him.

But things could not be easy, oh no. There was a chain-link fence in his way, one that he chose to climb over, pointedly ignoring the way the fence began to hum beneath his flesh as he jumped from the top of it to the other side. By then, he was panting and gasping for air as he let himself run into the metal tower in front of him.

Behind him, Justin had just reached the chain-link fence but his dome of electric current had been taken down long before he had reached it. The electricity from his body shot out by itself and the metal fence absorbed the jolts; the more that flowed through the fence, the more charged it became until it began to pull apart, small chain-links curling in on themselves and creating a gaping entrance for the boy to walk through.

Still panting, Duo glared at the boy, pressing his heated body against the cool metal of the tower. If he thought about it, he could swear that he could feel something moving on the other side of the pipe but he just dismissed it as unimportant.

The twin, though, was taking this a whole different way.

"Boy, are you an idiot!" Justin exclaimed.

"Oh? And why, pray tell, am I an idiot?" he snarled at the two boys who just gave him a cheeky grin in return.

"You ran to a water tower," the twin said, as if that explained everything. "There's metal all over the place. I can fry your ass like a turkey if I wanted to, which, by the way, I'm going to do after what you did to Dustin!"

However, Duo was not paying any more attention to what the boy was saying. He was more focused on what he called the metal structure he was at. He may not have known about metals conducting electricity but from his studies back at the lab place, he sure did know about what _water_ did with electricity.

Laying a hand on the metal pipe behind him, he reveled inwardly as he felt the smoothness change drastically into a roughness that signified rust.

Giving a wicked smirk to the twin, he said, "Surf's up."

Now this was where Duo underestimated things. What he didn't know was that the pipe he had just rusted up was the main pipeline that carried water in and out of the tower. That meant that the pressure that was inside it was incredible and by giving it a way out, it shot a massive stream of water out of it. Fortunately for Duo, he had been ducking out of the way already and was raising a shield up to protect himself.

As for the twin, he wasn't as lucky. The water slammed into him ruthlessly and with all the electrical power channeling through him, it caused a violent reaction to occur.

It was an earthshaking explosion that resulted; Duo could feel the tremors through the ground beneath him as he curled in on himself, praying that his shield of frozen time would protect him. An unbelievable amount of force impacted the water tower, the metal monolith only able to resist it for a short amount of time before it was blown off of its supports. Without anything attaching it to the ground, the tower leaned over and fell like a tree down to the unforgiving earth.

Without the tower there anymore, the water pressure in the pipes beneath the town dramatically decreased, even as it continued to bubble up from the broken pipes that stuck out of the ground, slowly flooding the surrounding area.

Slowly looking up, Duo took in the devastation around him. No more was the tower, the fence, even a couple of the surrounding buildings standing. The very concrete ground under him seemed to be curving downwards into a slight crater that was practically filled with runoff water. And in the middle of all this, he noticed an electrocuted body sticking out of the shallow water, burnt to a crisp and still smoking.

Only after staring at the sight for a couple minutes in contemplative silence did Duo finally begin to chuckle and then deteriorate into full blown out laughter. Why was he laughing? He didn't know but he felt that he just _had_ to.

Wiping a tear from his eye, his sides still heaving with unsuppressed laughter, he noticed something moving in the distance, something that was getting closer to him by the second. Making a small bridge of frozen time so that he could get over the over-watered battleground, he leisurely crossed his transparent bridge and continued walking on nothing but time until he got to a dry piece of road that was right in the way the moving object was going.

It was at this time that Duo had his first meeting with a moving automobile, one that put on the brakes and skidded to a halt in front of him. He didn't know what this thing was but maybe he and Solo could use this…

---

Seizing the opportunity, ignoring everything else, Solo grabbed the fire hydrant that had had the nerve to trip him up just a minute ago and ripped it from the concrete sidewalk it was attached to. Ignoring the gusher of water that he would've thought at one point to have been much stronger, he threw the red piece of metal at Mobias, the hydrant catching the other boy right in his gut.

Solo didn't even wince despite how painful that looked. Putting his foot on top of the weak geyser of water, he directed the stream straight towards Mobias, the liquid putting out the fire wielder's weapons instantly with a hiss. Frowning at how weak the geyser was getting by the minute, he began making his way towards the other, cracking his knuckles malevolently.

As Mobias lifted his head up to glare at him, Solo grabbed him roughly by the front of his black suit and lifted him up, his feet dangling over the street. With his face mere inches from the others, Solo said, "Hit me."

Snarling in his face, Mobias summoned his fire to blast into the other's chest…only to hear an ominous sizzling sound. Looking down, he could see that his uniform was wet for some reason that he couldn't fathom but it nonetheless was acting as a barrier preventing him from bringing out his fire.

Smirking wickedly, Solo said, "My turn!"

A loud smacking sound followed and the blond watched with satisfaction as Mobias' body went flying over the nearby buildings, soon being blocked from sight.

Man, now that felt good! Maybe he should go look for his body, you know, make sure he was alive still.

Then put a brutal end to it by bashing his head in…

"Hey blondie! Snap out of it!"

He jerked his head around to see down the street, a truck waiting at the end of it with, well what do you know, Duo in the bed of it. Thoughts of bashing Mobias' brains out of his skull dropped out of his mind as he turn and a hop and a skip later, he was right beside the vehicle.

---

Other than the incredible pain that was throbbing through his body, Mobias experienced a massive amount of shame flooding his mind. How could Solo have beaten him like that? It shouldn't have happen! This was his time to shine, to prove once and for all that he was the strongest, the best…

But that wasn't how things had turned out. Instead, here he was, flat on his back, staring up at the gray overcast that covered the sky, and feeling sorry for himself. Well maybe he wanted to wallow in self-pity! He had been close, so close to proving himself better than Solo…

A gentle breeze rolled over him, coming with it a sudden thickening of the air around him. He felt himself behind pulled up by nothing physical and found himself face to face with Jason.

Ugh.

"Looks like ya got your ass handed to you," Jason said bluntly.

"That makes me feel so much better," Mobias muttered balefully. "Why don't you kill me right now and end my shame?"

"No," Jason replied, his blue eyes lighting up with an unnatural gleam, small natural streaks of green in his eyes. "We're not done yet. I have a plan and I need you for it."

His eyes narrowing, Mobias demanded, "For what?"

His mouth splitting into a wicked grin, Jason retorted, "You'll see."

---

"Look what I found!" Duo chirped, his hand patting the cab of the truck proudly.

Solo eyed the crimson eyed boy for a second before glancing through the driver side window and allowing a smirk to grace his lips. Tapping on the window with his knuckles, he chuckled as the window slowly rolled down, blue eyes glaring death at him.

"Fancy meetin' up with you 'gain," Solo commented cheekily.

"It wasn't something planned," a cold voice belonging to that Chinese guy answered him.

"Whatever, China guy," Solo replied dismissively, waving his hand carelessly.

"I'm not Chinese, I'm Japanese!" the guy snarled at him, eyes blazing.

"Same difference," Solo shrugged as he turned his attention back to Duo. "Where'd you find this ride?" he asked the braided one, ignoring everything directed at him from the truck's cab.

"Caught this baby moving towards me and I thought it might be useful for something," Duo answered.

"Damn right it's useful," Solo said. "Gonna want ta make tracks fast and get out of here 'fore the government assholes catch up ta us again."

"Amen to that," Duo agreed. "The lightning brats were annoying beyond belief."

"I don't think you'd have that much trouble with three guys," Solo jested.

"Three?" Duo repeated, confused. "I only killed two. I thought you got Mobias and that other guy."

"I only fought Mobias," Solo replied, a feeling of dread building in his gut. The gentle breeze that he felt against his skin did nothing to calm him down whatsoever.

"Maybe we should get out of here…" Duo suggested, feeling Solo's sudden anxiety. Both of them had just gotten into two fights that had taken a bit out of them, not that either of them would admit it, and neither wanted to face that last guy anytime soon. Who knew what he could do?

"Let's haul ass," Solo stated as he began to climb into the truck's bed.

"Hold on just one minute," the China guy interrupted. "What makes you think we're going to be taking either of you anywhere?"

The gentle breeze began to pick up and somewhere in downtown Boulder, a small whirlwind began to form, expanding at a fast pace and transforming into a tornado. But that wasn't all, far from it. Fire began to race up the tornado, following the darkness that was the tornado itself until it had completely consumed it, creating a fiery funnel cloud that was just beginning to go after them.

"Ya wanna stick around for that thing?" Solo asked as he jumped into the truck's bed. "MOVE!"

Instead of arguing, Heero obeyed the blond's order and slammed down on the accelerator pedal, spinning the steering wheel and began "hauling ass."

Buildings exploded into flames as the fire devil chased after them; those buildings that weren't consumed by fire were ripped apart by the gale force winds. Whatever had been left of Boulder was being demolished by two forces of nature combined into one fierce storm.

"Can't this fucking thing move any faster?!" Solo swore as he glared back at the fiery storm. "Faster, asshole!" he shouted at the driver.

"Shut up!" came the cold reply.

"Move left!" Duo suddenly cried out.

"What!" Heero shouted

"Just do it!" Duo screamed back, fear entering into his voice.

It had been fortunate that Heero had done as he was told. Not a second later, a large chunk of flaming debris impacted the very spot the pickup would have been had it not moved.

"Fuck!" Heero swore amiss the female screams in the cab. "Hold on!"

"What the fuck do you think we've been doin'?" Solo muttered.

Perhaps that word of caution hadn't been a waste of breath. Solo almost found himself being thrown out of the bed of the truck as the vehicle swerved to a side, narrowing dodging the flaming remains of a car followed by another dodge that avoided collision with a chunk of a brick wall that once belonged to Boulder's general store.

The next swerve Heero made took them off the paved road entirely and out into the rocky earth of the desert. The words "bumpy ride" couldn't begin to describe what that was like. Not only was the truck driving over unpaved terrain, the driver constantly had to dodge debris from the fiery tornado that was chasing after them.

It was after a roof that had once belonged to a house impacted the earth next to them, collapsing into itself and sending flaming shingles everywhere, that Solo shouted at Duo, "Can't ya put up a shield or something?!"

Duo shot him a glare, for what reason remains unknown, but nonetheless followed through with the suggestion. So when the next flaming chuck of rubble came flying at them, just as it was within a hundred feet of the speeding truck, it was deflected by a temporary shield of frozen time.

This process was repeated a couple more times, at the end of which Solo slapped the braided boy's shoulder good-naturally. But, as it seemed, Lady Luck didn't like them anymore. Emerging from the tornado of fire came the twisted remains of the fallen water tower, the powerful winds cradling the twisted hunk of metal as it threw it at the truck that was ever so slightly pulling away from it as if in a last ditch effort to crush them.

As it came closer to them and it didn't seem like Duo was going to do anything, Solo snapped his head to the brunet. "Anytime now would be good!" he snarled.

"I would but even my powers have their limits," the other growled back, glaring at the blond. "I'm tired, I'm exhausted, and I don't think I could do anything to stall the damn thing."

"Now he tells me," Solo muttered as he turned to yell back at the driver, "Get your rear in gear, we have incoming!"

He could have sworn he heard an "I know" shouted back at him but he was in no position to debate whether or not he had heard it. The truck began to move erratically, trying to make it harder for the incoming water tower to hit them all the while speeding up to as fast as it could reasonably go.

Suffice to say, in Solo's opinion, it wasn't fast enough as the tower remains impacted the ground that they had vacated only mere seconds ago and bounded off of the earth, continuing after them with the monstrous force of momentum powering it. The sounds of metal colliding with earth again and again was not a pleasant one, especially since he and Duo were close enough to see each collision the metal tower had with the ground twisted it even further.

Then without warning, the trunk had a sharp left and was out of the tower's path as it continued to bounce and roll until finally skidding to a stop some distance away. Through it all, the trunk had not lost any speed and one final turn got it back onto the paved road again.

That still left one problem: that tornado was still after them and didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon. Sure, it was further away but it was because the two boys in the truck bed could still see it that they were still wary.

"Never thought I'd be glad to see the Colorado," the driver commented loudly to himself, loud enough that the boys could overhear him.

"Colorado?" Duo questioned as he turned to look ahead.

The truck bounced slightly as it drove over a bridge, one with a large river beneath it. Seeing as how he had never seen a river before, Solo found himself in awe of the sight and after several minutes of having passed it, the tornado came into contact with the river.

The flames didn't stand a chance and the fiery storm itself was thrown off kilter and dissipated, clouds of white smoke rising from its base angrily, furious that its prey had escaped it.


	15. In His Element

Author's Note: Now to let things cool down for a bit. I will admit that the fire devil in the last chapter was over dramatized but such a thing like it does occur in nature, believe it or not. Look it up, Google it, go to Wikipedia, you'd be surprised what little things happen in this world if you pay attention. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, Xavien's twisted P.O.V

In His Element

"Aw, they got away," Jason lamented even though he didn't particularly look sad about it.

Standing in the burnt remains of what used to be Boulder, Mobias stared across the path of destruction, watching the cloud of white steam far in the distance rise up towards the sky. Even though the boy couldn't literally see it, he wondered how the other boy standing next to him knew that their prey was still alive. That thing they had created should have been able to accomplish that objective without any problem whatsoever so what happened?

"Anymore bright ideas, Einstein?" he demanded spitefully.

However, Jason was not paying him any mind, preferring instead to continue to gaze out to the distance contemplatively, snatching the bottom of his chin in thought. "Maybe it's a good thing they did get away," he shrugged.

"A good thing?" Mobias repeated flabbergasted. "Are you high?!"

"We were ordered to bring them back alive," Jason said. "We couldn't have done that if they were dead, now could we?"

Mobias paled at that reminder. He had forgotten that they were suppose to bring the traitors back alive…

But now what? Already they had lost three of the others and Mobias himself had almost not made it out himself—wait a minute…

"Just where were you all this time?" he demanded, glaring at the shorter boy.

Sparing him a glance, Jason replied, "How do you mean? I've been here the whole time."

"That's just it!" Mobias barked at him. "I didn't see you fight at all while we were here! Did you chicken out or something? I'm right, ain't I? You're just a little chicken shit like Solo!"

Even though his uniform was partially damp, his hands were dry enough that he was able to summon his precious fire again. He was going to show this bastard just what he was made of…

The air around him swirled and soon it was beginning to get hard to breathe with each passing second. With a lack of oxygen, the flames in his hands died out and he clutched at his throat, feeling the signs of suffocation creeping up on him. That was when Jason took the initiative, stepped forward and socked the flame master on the right side of his face. The force of the blow sent Mobias out of the little whirlwind that had been depriving him of much needed air and onto the broken remnants of what used to be Main Street in Downtown Boulder.

His cheek throbbed with pain that was not even dulled as he gasped for air. Who knew this guy could hit so hard? A merciless foot planted itself onto his chest and pushed him back onto the broken street without remorse. Flashing green eyes glared down at him and the heel of Jason's boot dug into his ribcage.

"I was studying them, you fucking nitwit," Jason growled. "It's stupid to rush headfirst into a fight like you did; that's why you and the twins lost. I know how they fight now and the next time we meet, I'll fight and I will beat them, unlike you."

Jason increased the pressure his foot had on Mobias' chest, pushing the breath out of the breathless boy's body. Mobias squirmed under the appendage, fighting for each intake of air he could get.

Shoving off, Jason walked away from his prone comrade, taking out his handheld radio to contact base and request back up. It wouldn't due to get too cocky this early in the game and he was sure that the boss guy with the two colored eyes wouldn't mind if he asked for more help.

It was all for a good cause.

Meanwhile, as Mobias was finally able to get his breathing regulated again, he glared at Jason's back, images of how he could hurt the other running through his mind like a film reel. How dare he show him up, especially after the beating Solo gave him!

He'd show them, he'd show them all what he was capable of and he would start with Solo first. There would be no way that anyone could blame him if Jason were to be taken out in the next fight, after all, they had just lost three others.

---

Darkness truly was his element and he enjoyed basking in it whenever he found the need to be alone with his thoughts. There was just something about being alone in a pitch black room, the only light there coming from the screen on the wall across from him, display images that were of, right now, interest to him.

With a glass of bourbon on the rocks in one hand and the other hand pressed against the side of his face, Xavien studied the satellite images of what had once been an American town in the middle of the barren state of Arizona. There really wasn't much that could describe what he was looking at, just a large piece of charred land and devastation everywhere…

He couldn't help but feel a shiver of thrill tingle up his spine. It was surely a marvelous sight to behold, a work of art as it were. Too bad this was only collateral damage and not something he had actually planned. That would certainly give a whole new meaning to the images he saw.

Lounging back into the comfortable couch that he had in his private quarters, he took a drink of his beverage, letting the liquid sit in his mouth momentarily before swallowing it, enjoying the burning sensation that the alcohol gave him as it traveled down his throat. Ah, that was it. Crossing his legs, he called out the phrase "Image 1-29" and lo and behold, the image on the screen morphed into a new one, an image showing him another angle of what used to be Boulder, Arizona, smoke still rising from the ruins.

He made a mental note to have his men search for survivors. If any were at the appropriate age and of the appropriate gender, then they would be admitted into his research facilities where they would be…treated… If they weren't, well, they'd have to be eliminated then. No sense in keeping living witnesses now was there? He couldn't risk having some yokel blow the cover off of Project Maxwell, at least not yet anyway.

Taking in another sip of his drink, he closed his eyes, the images of the destroyed town playing against his eyelids. It was enough to get him into an aroused state but he wasn't too far into it where he had to take care of it immediately since he had an extraordinary amount of control over his body. Still, he would have to save those images for a later time when he wasn't in a business mindset…

A shrill buzzing sound alerted him to the fact that someone was just outside his rooms. "Enter," he announced, his eyes opening but not leaving the screen before him as the main entrance to his quarters opened. Light streaked out towards him, making his body barely visible to the hulk of a man whose body blocked most of the doorway. Xavien had no need to actually look at this man seeing as this person had been with him since before the beginning of the project and all signs pointed to him still being there after it was all over and done.

"Mr. Xavien," the deep voice of Malkov intoned. "We have just received a communication from the retrieval team."

"What of it?" he asked, not in the least bit concerned.

"10615 has requested back up," Malkov reported. "It says that 11085 and 12093 have not only eluded capture but have eliminated 12398, 12515, and 12516."

Xavien's mind attached faces to each subject number, mentally noting that their files needed to be closed as soon as their bodies were recovered and examined. "What of 12100?" he asked.

"It lives but is injured," Malkov answered obediently, waiting for his superior's instructions.

Drinking the last of his glass, he raised it up, silently ordering his underling to refill it, an action that Malkov immediately responded to by obeying the request. The large man took the glass from Xavien's hand and moved further into the dark room, the sounds of a liquid being poured reaching Xavien's ears. When his glass was placed back into his hand, he took another sip and began to swirl the drink, his wrist rotating gently so as to not spill the beverage.

What to do…that wasn't an easy one but Xavien wasn't one to shy away from hard decisions. Still, the first team had failed to accomplish their objective yet it was also important that he get 11085 and 12093 back, especially 11085. He had spent too long on that one to let it get away from him now.

Decisions, decisions, it seemed like his choices were limited if he went along with that train of thought, he supposed. Looked like he knew what to do now.

"It's a good thing we had that back up team ready," he said aloud, pausing to take a sip of his drink before continuing. "Brief them on what has occurred and send them to the last known coordinates of our escaped weapons."

"Yes Mr. Xavien," Malkov said.

"Make sure you emphasize that I want those weapons brought back to me alive," Xavien stated, his eyes removing their selves from the screen in front of him to focus on his behemoth of a lackey. "It is imperative that they're brought back in a living state. We still need to figure out what precisely went wrong with them before we do anything else. Project Maxwell has progressed too far to be undone by something as insignificant as this."

"Yes Mr. Xavien," Malkov said again, bowing his head slightly to signify that he understood his orders.

Xavien said nothing else, his eyes turning back to the large screen in front of him. Taking that as a dismissal, Malkov turned around and left his employer to his darkness, closing the door behind as it would be rude to leave it open.

As soon as the last stream of light was cut off, Xavien waited until his eyes had readjusted to the lightless room before taking another sip of his drink. It was hard trying to determine whether or not the failure of the first team was a good thing or a bad thing. It was good because it only proved how powerful and competent 11085 and 12093 were, a definite success that had come out of Project Maxwell. It also showed just how effective the other weapons were in terms of destruction. To actually have them employed in a war, ooh, it sent a shiver up his spine! However, there was the flip side. This also demonstrated some of the flaws with the remaining weapons, tarnishing the pristine veneer of Project Maxwell, definitely something to frown at.

Then again, perhaps it wasn't too bad, after all now that he could see some shortcomings, it was now possible to _fix_ them. And if they were to find some solutions to other problems that had managed to pop up, so much the better. Heh, there was that amateur scientist within him speaking up again against the more practical, expert businessman that he was in real life.

He was going to have to deal with that side of himself one of these days but as for right now he'd indulge it. After all, this was a _science_ experiment when it all came down to it; the military funding was just an added bonus. Speaking of the military, he was going to have to ring up the General about this unexpected altercation to the plan. Sure, the man wouldn't like it and he had been getting quite _impatient_ lately but tough, he was just going to have to deal with this. He had more leverage over the General than the General had over him; he would have no choice but to do as he told him.

The thrill of having so much power over someone was intoxicating and not for the first time did Xavien consider making a bid for power using the fruits of Project Maxwell as his weapons. But in the end, he had to push that certain ambition away. It was much too early for those kinds of thoughts. Besides, he had yet to get to the second phase of the project. He had better things to do than to play the time consuming games of politics.

Uncrossing his legs and shifting his seating on the couch, he called out, "Image 1-04," the requested image replacing the previous to show yet another perspective of the destroyed town of Boulder. This one was his favorite one thus far and he found that he was slowly loosing his control over his body as it demanded satisfaction.

He was just going to have to take care of it now, wasn't he?


	16. Heero's got a Stash

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, Solo's racial prejudice

Heero's got a Stash

The cab of the pickup was utterly silent as the three survivors of Boulder sat quietly, staring ahead through the windshield that protected them from the pressure of air that would have been rushing against them had it not been there. It was only now, now that the immanent threat of death wasn't hounding them, they the three of them could reflect on the recent events that had happen perhaps not an hour ago.

One hour ago, they had just been getting ready to go to school, after making sure that the two boys who were currently riding in the bed of the pickup had kept their word and left, only to be led to the scene of disaster that had taken place in the middle of their town. But things only got even stranger from that point on; those two strange boys were violating the very laws of physics that they had grown up learning about and both of them had engaged in a fight involving other boys capable of the most awesome things they had ever seen.

Not just that, but thirty minutes ago, they had been hijacked by the braided boy and then forced to flee as a fire tornado chased after them with the intent of killing them and only now were they safe.

At least for the mean time.

"What are we going to do?" Dorothy finally asked aloud, voicing the words to the question that had been on all of their minds.

Relena only shrugged wordlessly. She couldn't be blamed for that kind of answer; everything that she had once known had been torn apart and scattered to the four winds in less time than it had taken for her to learn about it. She had nothing now, at least to her knowledge, that was. She probably had some family somewhere in the country she could go to but none of them came to her mind at the moment.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Heero finally gave an answer, trying to put their minds at ease to what they were going to do.

"We'll go to the convention where my parents are," he said, his grip on the steering wheel tight. "They should still be there."

"Where's this convention being held at?" Dorothy asked since Relena wasn't going to be saying anything any time soon.

"Las Vegas," Heero answered.

Dorothy frowned. "What exactly do your parents do for a living?" she asked suspiciously.

"Don't know," Heero shrugged. "I never bothered to ask."

"Well, at least it's better than nothing," Dorothy said, sighing.

Heero said nothing in reply and Relena continued to remain in her stupor, staring out at the road before them.

---

"Solo, I'm bored!"

Solo turned a lazy eye towards a violet eyed Duo and replied, "Find somethin' to do then."

"But there's nothing to do!" the braided boy whined, looking pitifully up at the green-eyed blond.

Too bad for him that Solo didn't know how to pity someone. It was also too bad that the more aggressive side of Duo's personality had decided to go take a nap once all the excitement was over, leaving the blond with his more innocent persona. However, he could say he was getting used to his only friend being more than one person.

"What do ya feel like doin'?" he asked tiredly, turning his full, undivided attention to the braided boy, raising an eyebrow quizzically at him.

"Don't ya have any ideas?" Duo asked him pleadingly, unable to think of anything he could do to alleviate the boredom that was threatening to consume him.

"Let's see," Solo muttered as he looked around the bed of the truck, ignoring how the wind was rushing against his skin roughly. There was hardly anything in the moving, open, metal container, the only thing of interest to the blond himself being the tool chest pressed up against the truck's cab. "Nothing wrong with playin' with hardware," he said aloud as he reached over to the chest of tools and opened a drawer.

Tools galore met his sight and Duo crept up to the chest, examining the sight of all the pretty objects. However, much to Solo's dismay, Duo quickly grew tied of this and was already grabbing at the next drawer. Letting the boy have at it, Solo leaned back up against the truck's side and closed his eyes, basically resting. At least that was what he was doing until Duo called for him a few minutes later.

"What?" he sighed, opening his eyes again to look at the braided boy tiredly.

"What are these?" Duo questioned innocently.

Leaning over, noticing that Duo had the bottom drawer of the tool chest open, he peered into it and his brow furrowed in confusion. There weren't any tools in this drawer, at least to the naked eye there weren't. Slipping a hand in, he pulled out something flat but not quite flat either. Studying the object for a second, he recalled that it was a magazine and only then did he bother to take a good look at the cover. Even though there was just some girl on the cover, he didn't give the picture another thought as he opened the magazine to a random page.

His eyes suddenly widened in realization at what this magazine really was.

"What is it Solo?" Duo asked, looking up at the blond.

Slowly, a grin that was anything but friendly parted Solo's lips and a wicked gleam flashed in his eyes. "Ho shit!" he exclaimed. "Da China guy has a stash of porn in his truck!"

Duo blinked cluelessly. "Stash of…porn? What's that?"

Solo's eyes greedily ran over the image he was presented that he wasn't bothered in slightest by Duo's question. "It's when ya become a man, Duo," he answered, not removing his eyes from the erotic photograph. Slipping another hand into the drawer, he pulled out another magazine and thrusted it into Duo's hands. "Lay your eyes on that one and tell me if it's any good," he instructed, his now free hand running back over to his crotch. It was getting really tight down there….

---

Unawares of what was taking place just behind him, Heero continued to watch the road ahead of him, paying attention to every single details as he drove, not once meeting up with anybody else. Just back about a mile he had navigated them through an intersection, taking a left turn as to try and get as physically possible to Nevada as he could. Of course, there was just one geographical barrier that now stood between them and Las Vegas: the Grand Canyon itself. The only option they had was to try and go around it which would just be one big headache in the long run but what choice did they have? They didn't have enough money of them to get plane tickets and then there were the two boys who had forcefully hitched a ride. What were they going to do about them anyway?

Sighing, he glanced worriedly at Relena. His girlfriend had yet to say a single thing since the tornado and the way she was just staring ahead into space was making him worried. When they stopped for the night, wherever that may be, he'd try his best and try to open the girl back up into the world.

Hell, he was willing to hear her cry out his name in that annoying habit of hers just to hear her voice again…

An incessant knocking on the rear window of the cab tore into his musings and he glanced up into the rearview mirror, reminded once again of their unwelcome guests.

He was able to make out the muffled voice of that blond guy, Solo, and he seemed to be wanting them to take a look at something. Then he pressed something up against the clear plastic that made up the window.

Heero's eyes widened and he turned around to gaze at the picture of a naked model that was obviously part of the secret stash of pornography that he and his father kept in the tool chest. As he did all of that, it was needless to say that he took his eyes off the road, the number one no-no that you shouldn't do when you were driving an automobile.

---

"This is just great, just fuckin' perfect! Ya can't trust da damn Chinese ta drive right. Why da hell weren't those other two bitches driving?"

Solo was raising hell, yelling his lungs out right beside a steaming Japanese youth who promptly interrupted with, "I'm not Chinese!"

"Yeah, he's Japanese!" Duo piped up from his spot still in the bed of the pickup having not bothered to get out of it after the Accident.

"Same difference," Solo dismissed, waving his hand wildly. "Chinese, Japanese, they're all da same. None of them can drive right."

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried to get my attention with that magazine," Heero growled dangerously, his Prussian blue eyes glaring daggers at the blond teen.

"Yeah, you just tell yourself that," Solo retorted. "How da hell does somebody hit a rock? I coulda missed it blindfolded!"

The aforementioned rock that the blond was referring to happened to be currently embedded in the truck's front, poking straight out of the rocky ground and going straight up into the engine, effectively killing the ride. It was a miracle they were all alive, relatively unharmed despite the fact that Solo had found himself going _through_ the cab of the truck and straight ahead through the air after that before having a rough landing on the unforgiving desert soil. Since this was Solo, no one gave any second thought to whether he was injured or not even though the reasoning that the teens had for that reaction differed from Duo's. And Solo, being Solo, as soon as he had picked himself up without any injuries marring him, even though his clothes had definitely seen better days, began with his racial accusations as soon as he was within earshot of the others.

None of that though was going to be fixing their predicament anytime soon.

Getting tired of the insult match going on, Dorothy had decided to take a look at the magazine, or one of the collection, that had managed to so effectively capture Heero's attention just before the Accident. It was real easy to obtain a sample since all she had to do was walk up to Duo and ask for one which the braided boy happily did.

"Heero!" Dorothy exclaimed in shock. "I didn't know you had it in you to keep porn!"

Out of all the words that had been uttered that day, it was those simple words that managed to free Relena from her impenetrable stupor and the blonde girl immediately climbed out of the truck cab to investigate her friend's proclamation.

"Heero! How could you!" Relena cried out in despair, gripping the magazine tightly.

"Relena, you know I would never look at something as repulsive as that!" Heero had claimed in his defense. "I don't even know where that came from! My dad probably put that in there to hide it from my mom! I swear, I've never seen that before in my life!"

"Really?" Relena asked hopefully.

"There's more where that came from!" Duo chirped, waving around a couple more of the incriminating magazines in his hand, one of which had the words "Heero's porn" written on it with a Sharpie.

Looking into those blazing eyes, Heero chuckled nervously, pulling at the collar of his shirt nervously. "I can explain…?"

---

"You may be a Chinese loser but ya certainly have good taste," Solo commented as his eyes scanned another of the porn magazines. Even though it was dark out, it was quite cold because hey this is a desert; Solo's eyes were glowing with that amber hue of his, which was emitting enough light that it was easy to read the…reading material that he was engaged in. "Da tits on page fifty-six is totally worth it."

All three boys were bundled up together in the bed of the pickup, the girls having taken up what remained of the truck's cab and Relena kicking out Heero to endure the great outdoors as punishment for being a pervert. Heero was, suffice to say, not happy at that last bit.

"Shut up," Heero muttered. "I'm not Chinese, I'm Japanese, and this is all your fault, you know."

Shrugging unapologetically, Solo said, "It ain't my fault that you're a perv. Oh, before I forget, sorry 'bout what I did on page eighty-one and two in that July edition. That one was _hot_."

"Hey Solo?" Duo suddenly asked, holding another of the magazine up to Solo's eye. "What's this?"

"Lesbo porn!" Solo's eyes widened, his eyes glowing brighter in perverted lust. "And they're in a sixty-ninety! Sweet!"

"Someone kill me now," Heero moaned aloud.

---

As if to make up for the lack of sunlight of from yesterday, there was not a cloud in the clear blue sky. That meant to those that were stuck out in the good ol' outdoors the sun was out and blaring down on them with a vengeance.

Sure it was hot but this was a desert for Christ's sake and only one of them had any knowledge of sunburns. The person was Heero who had trying to barter his way back into the remains of the truck cab and almost got in until some comment from Solo spoiled that. It went along the lines of "seeing some hot naked ass" or something like that.

The girls weren't coming out after that, even if the engine caught fire and threatened to blow up, which it wasn't. Sending a scowl over to the blond who had changed his wrecked set of clothes for an unused pair of Cargos and a black tank top, his vest being used as a pillow as the blond sought to "get a tan", Heero had to resign himself to sweating his ass off in the sweltering heat.

As for Duo, the kid had gotten the nice idea of freezing time around him like a small bubble. Now, that might sound odd to some but then the braided kid had pointed out that the temperature in his bubble was still the same as it was that morning.

Lucky bastard.

Heero had no idea of how long it was after that but the sight of something moving towards them from down the road made him begin to doubt his sanity. Either that or he was experiencing one of those mirage things that cartoon characters typically saw whenever they were stuck in the middle of a desert.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Heero rested his eyes before opening them again. He must have been hallucinating pretty badly because he could have sworn that whatever he had saw a minute ago was still there only closer and moving towards them still. Did he have an overactive imagination or something because he was pretty sure he wasn't seeing what he was seeing.

However, the closer the object got, the more convinced he became that this wasn't some trick of his mind. In fact, he could see that it wasn't just one moving thing but a whole train of them.

"Hey," he said aloud, getting out from the bed of the pick up truck, walking slowly over to the road.

"What is it Heero?" he heard Dorothy's voice ask but he didn't turn his head around to look towards her.

Instead, he answered with a single word. "Cars."

He heard the scrambling of two bodies escaping the truck cab but didn't acknowledge it as he had more pressing matters to worry about. Such as getting ride; that would definitely be important and he wanted to get into something _cold_.

The caravan of vehicles was coming upon them and Heero could now make out just exactly how _large_ they were. What was this? Even though the first of the large trucks began to pass them, the Japanese youth was not dissuaded. Truck after truck passed them without a second thought and even though Heero was waving his hands over his head frantically like Relena and Dorothy were, calling out for one to stop, he continued to keep his optimism up. It was a pretty long caravan.

Soon, RVs could be seen mixed up among the train of large automobiles. Mere words could not describe what the Japanese teen felt when one slowed down and exited the train, coming to a stop a few yards behind them, the driver honking his horn at them good naturedly.

Jogging over to the opening driver's window, Heero saw the driver stick his head out, a long unibang obscuring the driver's face. However, there was a small smile on the guy's face and his emerald colored eye twinkled in amusement as he said aloud, "Car trouble?"

Heero found that he couldn't contain the smile that was threatening to split his face in two. At last, some good luck! "Can we hitch a ride?" he asked instead.

"Sure, I think we have room for hitchhikers," the unibanged driver answered. "Where you heading to?"

"Anywhere is fine," Heero answered, "just as long as it isn't Boulder."

Raising his only visible eyebrow quizzically, the driver leaned back into the RV and said out loud, "Hey Cathy! Are we heading to Boulder?"

"No, why?" a strong female voice answered back.

Ignoring the last part, the driver stuck his head back out of the RV. "You heard her," he shrugged. "So, still need a ride?"

"You bet," Heero told him. "You don't know what this means to us…eh…"

"Just call me Trowa," the driver told him. "Now hop on in. Doors on the other side so hurry. We don't want to get left behind."

Giving another thank you to Trowa, Heero hurried back to his wrecked truck and began to grab whatever he could, mainly the stuff that he and the girls had hastily packed into trash bags back at his house. Now here was where he came across the only bump in this change of plan.

"What's da deal?" Solo asked him, still sitting in the same spot he had been when Heero had first spotted the caravan.

Crap, he had forgotten about those two…

"I guess this is where we separate," he said.

"Separate?" Solo repeated, glancing over at Trowa's RV. Turning back to the teen, he put his hand down on the side of the truck and pressed his fingers into the hot metal, indenting his hand into it. "What makes ya think we're just gonna sit here?"

"Well, you don't need us anymore," Heero replied, ignoring Solo's display of intimidation.

"Of course we don't need yas," Solo retorted scornfully. "Ya wrecked the truck and now your thinkin' of leavin' me and Duo out here? I don't think so. C'mon Duo, we's got a ride ta catch."

With that, Heero felt like crying.

None of them had noticed the piercing green eyes of their benevolent benefactor watching them curiously.


	17. Join the Circus

Author's Note: As always, I need to give credit where credit is due and since some new OCs are being introduced, you guys get the idea, right? Risk is the creation of ShadowMajin, Kyle McSwords is Archsage Soren, and Yun is shinigamiinochi's. I hope I met your guys' expectations and interpretations of these. As for the rest of you, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, ShadowMajin's Risk, Archsage Soren's Kyle McSwords, or shinigamiinochi's Yun.

Warning: language

Join the Circus

Jason watched eagerly as their backup finally arrived; two vans bringing in their reinforcements. Curiously, Jason wondered why there were two vehicles when last time there had only been one.

"Here come the freaks," he heard Mobias mutter next to him but he paid it no mind. The fire wielder was really getting on his nerves; perhaps these newbies might be able to calm his more homicidal tendencies.

Stepping out from the passenger side of one of the vans, a large man with black hair tied into a short pony tail and the most dispassionate gaze one could ever see marched over to him.

"10615?" the man questioned.

Jason gritted his teeth and one of his eyes twitched. What was up with the numbers? He had a name, you know.

"Yes," he answered nonetheless, working to keep his ire out of his voice even though he wasn't quite successful. He wanted nothing more than to tear this man apart limb from limb but the guy was holding one of those tazers and he had seen what they could do.

Either oblivious or plain out ignoring the tone of his voice, the large man turned away and motioned back to the vans. Immediately, the backs of both vans opened and five new boys came out.

Jason immediately recognized all of them. One of them was a tall, lanky, blond guy who called himself Risk. Shy brown eyes were lowered and the guy scuffed the bottom of one of his boots on the uneven ground, consciously trying to make himself smaller. Despite this pose, Jason knew of the other side of this kid, the more annoying side of him that is. The guy just wouldn't shut up about how fast he could go or anything relating to speed for that matter. And that was only when he started talking, which, oddly enough, wasn't very often. Needless to say, this guy was the quickster of them all, a speed demon as it were.

Taking a place right next to Risk was a slightly shorter boy by the name of Curtis who had a more comfortable pose as he stood casually, resting his weight on one foot as if he was bored. Unlike most of the company he kept, Curtis was more olive complected, his brown hair more of a curly frizz, and his dull brown eyes only served to make him look even more bored.

Standing slightly a ways from these two stood a more average sized male whose finger seemed to be constantly in motion, slithering against one another and twitching sporadically. From that alone, Jason knew this guy to be Kyle McSwords, another of the very few males to recall or retain their last names. Unlike most of the others, Kyle stuck out of the group like a fruit loop in a bowl of cheerios. His hair was red and short but not to the point that it looked buzzed; his eyes were a calm green that didn't look frazzled in the least and matched with his calm body pose. Another peculiar physical trait on this guy was the goatee on his round chin, making him the only teen Jason knew who had facial hair.

Jason made a little quick mental note to keep a bit away from Kyle; the guy was a klepto, which explained why his fingers were moving a lot. Addicted to stealing, sheesh.

Standing alone as if the others were quarantining him was a tow headed brunet with baby blue eyes, a cherubic face, and a slight body. Jason had to retrain himself from rolling his eyes at this one. Even though his real name was Victor, this boy preferred having everybody else call him Vera for some reason. Probably had something to do with his lisp or something or maybe it was the way "Vera" had tried to come on to him once like he was a fairy. Actually, that would explain a lot about him. Nevertheless, Jason had made it a top priority to put as much distance between himself and the guy who currently was giving him a wink.

He visibly shuddered at that fact.

The last of them was known to Jason as simply Yun, a guy who towered over all of them easily not just in height but in build wise as well, which in turn only served to make him seem even taller. Long white hair, bleached to that color due to all sessions he had endured, blended well with his pale skin and silvery eyes, making him almost ghostly in appearance, the black uniform suit that he wore the only thing contrasting with his looks. He gave the impression of a feline, especially in the way he walked, making one identify him with a stalking predator.

Jason knew Yun as a sadist, especially with the way he used to toy around with the others, burning them with his uniquely acidic tentacles that somehow melded into his body, hiding just beneath the surface of his skin, ready to come out at a second's notice. Yeah, you heard correctly: _used_. A while back, Yun was the main reason why the guys with the tazers had to come in and zap him, what with his severe homicidal tendencies and all. It raised the question of whether the guy was a masochist, a question that to this day remains unanswered. One day, the big guy with the weird eyes paid him a visit after one especially bad episode where Yun had actually killed a kid and for weeks on end he hadn't been seen. When he did come back, though, he was completely different. No longer did he actively go out to harm any and everybody. If there was a word to describe him, it would be "puppet"; Yun had lost all his free will, as it were, and whenever some sort of tune was played, whether someone was tapping it out on a table or even humming it, he would freeze in his tracks and remain frozen until someone gave him a command or order.

It was really creepy, really, and Jason had distanced himself from Yun ever since, worried that the same thing that was done to Yun would be done to him.

As the vans drove off, Jason took into account every person around him; these were what he had, what he had been given. Add him and Mobias to the mix and the two traitors didn't stand a chance.

"What are we doing?" Kyle was the first to speak, looking pointedly at Jason.

Taking the metaphorical ball, Jason took center stage among the group of seven. "The two traitors are currently running around somewhere in this desert. Our orders are to find them and capture them, alive. However, that doesn't mean we can't rough them up a little bit while we're at it."

A chuckle from Yun stole the spotlight momentarily before it returned back to Jason.

"Yun's got the right idea," Jason continued. "Now, we need to find them quickly. Does anybody want to volunteer?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" came the overenthusiastic response from Risk, the boy hopping from one foot to the other excitedly.

"Yes Risk?" Jason sighed.

"I can find them!" Risk exclaimed. "I'm real fast, ya know? I can find them and bring them back here and then we can go back home and did I say I was fast? Did you know that the speed of sound is 767 miles per hour? That's 1125 feet a second! And I can go faster than that! How—"

"We get it Risk," Jason interrupted, not caring as the boy's shoulders slumped. "Just get on with it and _find_ them first. Scout out the area then come back and tell us where they are, okay?"

"Okay," Risk answered in a quiet tone of voice. In the next second, he was gone, a small trail of dust rising in the distance as Risk began his search.

Damn, the kid really was fast…

"So what now, oh glorious leader?" Mobias asked snarkily.

Before he could answer, he was cut off by a teasing Vera. "Ooh, are you jealous?" the feminine male asked, slowly coming up to Mobias' side and rubbing his body up against him.

"Get away from me you freak!" Mobias nearly shrieked as he shoved the gay boy away.

"Touchy," Vera sniffed but winked suggestively at the fire wielder.

"Guys," Kyle intervened, stepping between the two just as small flames began to smolder from Mobias' hands. "It's pointless to fight between us. It's not like anything will come out of it."

"I just love it how you're so logical and stuff," Vera sighed dreamily at the redhead who too began to give the homosexual a look. Doubts of whether or not to let Mobias have his way with the shorter boy flickered through his eyes and he looked like he was about to actually step out of the way until…

"Why don't you two just get a room already?" Curtis spoke up for the first time. "This soap opera is getting boring already."

"You're welcome to join us," Vera winked at the other.

This was getting out of hand. Jason buried his face into his hands as if trying to block everything out. Feeling a presence next to him, he peeked an eye out to catch sight of the ever silent Yun.

"Annoying, aren't they?" the ghostly teen asked conversationally, jerking his head towards the other four.

"Just get them to shut up," Jason ordered, exasperated at how quickly he had lost control of the group.

Eyes lighting up with a malicious light, Yun replied, "No problem."

Letting Yun have his way, Jason sighed. They were going to have to leave soon and despite hearing a shriek of surprise and pain coming from the others, he ignored it and began to think of what they're next move would be. The path of destruction that the tornado had made would definitely be a good place to start at and just head forward in that direction until either they found their prey or Risk returned to them.

Still, he had the feeling that this was going to be a long day.

---

Solo found himself blinking dumbly for about five minutes before a childish grin on his face nearly split it apart. For years, while he was still on the streets, he had dreamed of doing something like this, anything to ensure that he had some sort of roof over his head and three meals a day, maybe two.

This parade of RVs and eighteen wheelers weren't just any kind; they were a _circus_, a traveling one at that and the blond couldn't help but let out all his childhood dreams about it come out.

Lady Luck seemed to have changed her mind again and liked them.

"Um, Solo?" a violet eyed Duo asked hesitantly.

Turning his head to look at the braided kid, he nodded, letting Duo know that he was listening.

"What's a circus?" Duo asked, his face turning red from embarrassment.

Solo could only chuckle lightheartedly and tousle the kid's chestnut locks. As he opened his mouth to answer, he paused. He knew what a circus was, that was the easy part. The hard part was how could he put it into words? When someone heard the word circus, immediately that person would know what it meant. However, Duo did not, telling by how confused he was at this news, and while Solo did know, he couldn't put it into words.

Fortunately, the driver's woman companion, a gal named Catherine was right there to answer for him seeing as she had taken a liking to Duo's innocent charm.

"Well, Duo, a circus is a group of performers and entertainers who go around performing tricks and acts of wonder for people's entertainment," Catherine explained to the braided boy who was looking up at her with a contemplative expression and lapping up her words eagerly.

"Like what?" the boy asked.

"Well, like knife throwing," Catherine began counting off, "the trapeze act, the human cannon ball, the lion and tiger's cage, the clowns and elephant…"

By this time, Solo had tuned out instead looking ahead towards their driver who was in the midst of a conversation with the China guy with the hidden porno (which Solo had smuggled on with them). The two blonde girls were resting in the back room of the RV, probably lesing out or something, Solo supposed.

The trip with the circus had begun with them heading back towards that town that was destroyed but instead of continuing that way, they took a right turn at an intersection they had passed before the China guy crashed his truck. Speaking of crashing, the blond wondered how the driver who had hair covering his face hadn't done the same thing as the China guy yet. Could he see through his unibang or something?

He decided to ignore that for now in place of more pleasurable thoughts, such as how he was going to convince these circus guys to let him and Duo join up with them. A traveling circus would be the last place those military assholes would think to look for them, wouldn't it? Hopefully it wouldn't take much but with the way their luck kept switching from good to bad then back to good, who knew what he could expect.

---

The caravan of trucks and RVs came to a halt just outside of a small town that no one knew the name to except for the Ringmaster whose job was to know.

While it wasn't the best, Heero breathed a sigh of relief nonetheless. At last they were starting to get somewhere. From here on in, he and the girls just needed to come up with a way to get to Las Vegas and the convention that his parents were attending. The thought to call the two adults first never came to the Asian youth but could it have been his fault?

No, he was still on edge due to the fact he was still in the presence of the two guys who had held him prisoner in his own house, forced him to cook for them and then tied him to a chair. Of course, that wasn't all, far from it. The duo just had to take things a step further and utterly destroy his hometown to the point where he was sure only one large scorch mark would mark the remains of what used to be Boulder, Arizona. And then, the two had the gall to show his girlfriend his—er, his dad's porn collection that just happened to be in his truck's tool chest.

Huh, made he could treat Relena to a night at the circus? Yeah, maybe that could repair the damage Solo and Duo had done to his relationship. Speaking of those two, Solo had this odd happy look on his face for some reason and Duo was busy talking with Trowa's friend, Catherine, for most of the ride. The two didn't look to be mad dog killers as they had yesterday. In fact, they seemed almost like…children.

Pfft, as if those two and the word children could even be in the same sentence.

Currently, said duo was out and about, exploring with wonder the makings of a circus ground. Trowa and Catherine were with them and Heero had no choice but to trust the two circus folk to keep an eye on the two long-haired guys and keep them out of trouble. Right now, though, was a prime time to try and talk with Relena, provided that a certain blonde didn't teasingly interfere. Dorothy was like the devil's advocate at times.

Knocking lightly on the thin door that separated the majority of the RV from the small bedroom, he said out loud, "Relena? Are you awake?"

A minute passed with no answer and he shifted his weight from leg to leg in nervousness. The longer he had to wait, the less confident he became. He must really love this girl for that to happen. Relena was the only one he knew who could put him in such a position so easily and she didn't even have to be face-to-face with him for that to happen.

Finally, the door opened to reveal Dorothy who was giving him a small, encouraging smile. "She's all yours," she said quietly to him before making her way out of the RV and out onto the circus grounds beyond.

Swallowing consciously, he entered the small bedroom where Relena sat on the two-person bed, looking at him expectantly. This was it, he supposed, and he sat down next to her, his hands gripping onto one another in his anxiety.

"Relena…" he began just as Relena said, "Heero…"

They jerked their heads to face each other, Heero a bit sheepish, Relena surprised.

"You go first," Heero acquiesced, an uncharacteristic blush pinkening his cheeks. Relena then gave him a small, warm smile, one that had the Japanese male's heart racing and butterflies fluttering in his stomach. How could she do that to him so easily?

"I've talked with Dorothy," Relena finally said after a short pregnant pause, "and she brought up some reasonable points. You're a guy, after all, and it's only natural for you to be a hormonal time bomb."

What on Earth had Dorothy been filling her head with? Honestly, that girl was the devil himself! Or was that herself?

"I should have expected you to look at dirty magazines," Relena continued, her face lighting up like a Christmas light. "You have needs so I couldn't have expect—"

Heero immediately cut her off from that train of thought as he smashed his lips up against hers. It had been spontaneous, not planned whatsoever, yet it was the most natural thing he thought he could have done, especially since Relena was leaning into him and allowing him to deepen the kiss.

As he gently pushed her back, he came to the determination to show her just who the hormonal time bomb was around here.


	18. Enter the Overseers

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Enter the Overseers

As was per usual whenever the circus made a stop and began to set up, Trowa found himself lending his talents to moving crates around and occasionally calming down some of the animals that were still not used to being moved about in their cages. He especially liked tending to the lions the most. He could stare at the feline predators for hours on in and would too had his more responsible trailer mate Catherine not shove another box into his hands for him to put away.

Taking a break from helping out, he noticed two of their hitchhikers watching the set up with a fascination usually associated with children. Both looked to be in their teens, even though Catherine had told him a little about the questions that the brunet with the braid asked her. Noticing that the two were watching the large Ferris wheel, he came up behind the two and laid his arms on both of their shoulders.

He inwardly smirked as he felt the two jump at his unexpected actions but before either of them could reprimand him, he said aloud, "Would you two mind helping us out a bit?"

"Like how?" the blond asked suspiciously, his green eyes eyeing him.

"You know, help set up some of the attractions," Trowa shrugged, "unload the equipment, stuff like that."

"What's in it for us?" the blond questioned, his suspicions not in the least abated.

"How about you get free admittance to everything here," Trowa suggested. "You get to see the main event under the Big Top, ride all the rides you want, eat all the food you can without paying, even play as many games that you can manage. How about it?"

"One minute," the blond said as he turned himself and his braided companion around to confer with each other. When they turned back around to face the unibanged fellow, both with glowing smiles on their faces, the blond said, "Buddy, ya gots yaself a deal."

---

After wandering around for awhile, Dorothy found herself looking around for her friends, including the two boys that had hijacked them. While she had no luck finding Heero and Relena, she did find the two boys.

Both of them were hard at work, a wonder in and of itself, helping to get the circus set up in time for tonight's performance. Standing a ways from them, watching the two with interest was none other that their benefactor, the unibanged man marveling at the feats of strength that Solo himself was doing. As she was taking all this in, Solo currently was carrying a section of bleacher-like seating that was to form a makeshift ring that would be covered by the large tent that was the Big Top, whistling all the while. Duo was following after him like a little puppy, lugging a podium awkwardly.

"How does he do that?" Trowa's voice asked from beside her, nearly causing the girl to have a heart attack.

"Don't do that!" Dorothy exclaimed. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Trowa apologized. "How about my question?"

"I don't really know myself," Dorothy answered honestly. "He's been able to do such things ever since I met him a couple days ago. Not only is he strong but he doesn't seem to feel pain whatsoever. I kicked him in his crotch and he didn't even flinch!"

"Ouch," Trowa commented, a hand straying protectively towards his own crotch.

"Then there's Duo," Dorothy continued. "There's something…strange about him."

"How so?" Trowa asked.

"When I first met him, he seemed like a really creepy kid," Dorothy explained. "The next day I see him, he acting completely different and he tried to kill me!"

"He did? How'd he try to do that?" Trowa inquired.

"I don't know what he did," Dorothy said, "but he just touched me and I felt like I was dying. Like all the life in my body was being zapped away…it was horrible… That's when Solo told him to stop and then we were attacked by those other boys."

Trowa had a look of contemplation on his face as he listened to the girl but then he suddenly interrupted her. "Other boys?"

"Yeah, one of them threw a fireball at Solo," Dorothy said.

Now a frown was marring Trowa's face, at least what could be seen of it. "And which one is Solo and which is Duo?"

"Solo's the blond," Dorothy pointed out as the two boys came back into sight, both empty handed. "Duo's the one with the braid."

Trowa's visible eye was narrowing to the point that Dorothy doubted he could see through it. However, the blonde girl could see that his gaze was focused more on Duo than on Solo, for what reason she had no clue.

"Hey Trowa! Come over here for a second!" Catherine's voice called out and the odd behavior that Trowa was showing vanished in an instant. Nodding at Dorothy, Trowa said nothing more as he walked away to answer Catherine's call.

Dorothy could only remain where she was as she watched the other walk away. Trowa's was strange, no doubt about it but what did it mean? Even since Solo and Duo had entered her life, she was beginning to look at things in a more broader light. She filed this little tidbit away to look at later when nothing else was going on.

"Hey sweet cheeks, ya just gonna stand there or are ya gonna get out of da way?"

The girl jumped and spun around to see Solo holding up a large crate with ease, Duo right behind him, the blond giving the girl an impatient look.

"Sweet cheeks?!" Dorothy demanded, looking cross.

"Are ya gonna move or not?" Solo said, raising an eyebrow. "We got things to do, ya know."

"Well excuse me for being a pest!" Dorothy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"You're excused," Solo replied and stepped to a side, walking around the girl and heading back to the area where the Big Top was being set up, Duo hot on his heels.

Gaping at their backs, the implied insult still running through her head, Dorothy growled and marched away.

---

Now Trowa was intrigued. Dorothy's story, as farfetched as it was, was something he took all too seriously. Yeah, he believed every word she uttered, so what? With the way the two long haired boys, Solo and Duo, were going about with their assistance, there was a grain of truth in what the girl said.

He wanted to know more and to do so, he was going to have to ambush the two, or maybe just one of them, and coaxed the information out. He didn't expect for that to be too hard because what reason would they have not to speak of it?

But there inlayed the problem. He just couldn't find the opportunity to actually ask one of them. The moment he had located Catherine, he was burdened with task upon task until it was evening and the citizens of the nearby town began to make their way towards them. They certainly were cutting it close, weren't they? Then again, this was the schedule that the Ringmaster himself had laid out for them at the beginning of this year's "season." Lots of stops but no lingering. Take advantage of all places to set up business. That was how they did things in this business.

And it wasn't something that Trowa didn't mind one bit. He supposed he was just the type of person who just couldn't stay in one place or something.

Nonetheless, before he knew it, it was time to get ready for the big show and he had to change into his costume. As he approached his and Catherine's trailer, he noted the disheveled appearances of their other two guests, Heero and Relena. He held back a snicker; he definitely knew what those two had been doing alright. However, he was a man of manners so he didn't comment on it, instead remaining silent as he entered the RV to get what he needed.

A couple hours later, he was just out of sight of the crowd, his and Catherine's act next up on the roster. Despite sneaking peeks of the crowd every now and then, he had yet to catch sight of any of the hitchhikers that they had picked up earlier. He had hoped that both Solo and Duo had taken advantage of his offer and would be out there, watching and enjoying the show. He still had to ask them his questions, after all.

---

"I hate clowns," Solo muttered, eyeing the individuals wearing too much make-up evilly. A childhood fear, really, but one that had yet to go away. Of course, that fear could probably be considered hatred right about now but that maybe because he had just received a miscellaneous pie to the face.

Damn it, why'd they have to choose front row seats anyway?!

As for Duo, the braided kid was absolutely dazzled by the display of talent, absentmindedly using his finger to wipe off the cream still on Solo's face and licking it off the small limb as it came into close proximity with his mouth.

At least somebody was enjoying his misery…

The blond was never as grateful as he was when the Ringmaster's booming voice began to introduce the next act and he was curious about that large board that the clowns had brought in. It was a very tall board and for some reason it had a target painted on it. That's when Trowa, as he had found out earlier, and his lovely partner came out into the spotlight, the former's eyes lighting up as they spotted him and Duo for some reason. He shrugged it off and crossed his arms expectantly, waiting for the next "act of wonder" to take place.

He watched in confusion as Trowa was being restrained against the target board but soon his puzzlement was dispelled as Trowa's partner held out a handful of very sharp and very pointy knives. Oh, this ought to be good.

"What's going on Solo?" Duo asked, his tongue finishing up another swipe of cream.

"Just watch," Solo told him. "This is gonna be cool."

_Thwack!_

Duo practically jumped out of his seat, literally, and Solo found no shame in laughing at his friend's shock. Yeah, that knife may have hit close to the guy's body but it was never close enough to actually cause any harm. In fact, that was the intention but Solo wasn't about to tell Duo that as he enjoyed it whenever the kid jumped with each _Thwack_.

"She ain't gonna hurt him, is she?" the boy asked, apparently worried for Trowa's well being. _Thwack!_

"Dun know," Solo replied, taking the opportunity to scare the wits out of Duo. "She might. Accidents do happen." _Thwack!_

Duo only answered in a whimper, biting onto his lower lip and shutting his eyes every time a knife was thrown. Solo sighed; now he felt guilty of all things. He placed his hand on the brunet's head comforting, feeling every wince the boy made.

---

Septum was not in a good mood. Today had not been going well for him, what with some freak natural disaster out west, the reports from the wars abroad, and the fact that they had run out of coffee was just making it a really shitty day.

Oh, and he had yet to contact or be contacted by Xavien yet. That was something he was going to have to do soon. The man had promised him results by the end of the week and he was in desperate need of something to show off.

"Ah, General, I've been looking for you."

Septum stopped in his tracks. That voice, that deep, Godforsaken, annoying _voice_. Right now he wanted to shoot something, but because he was still at the office, the Pentagon, he was going to have to reign it in, at least until he could get somewhere private.

"Admiral," he greeted, turning around to face the man who was only a few inches taller than but it was inches that Septum begrudged nonetheless. The Admiral, as Septum called him, was the famous Admiral Noventa, the pride of the United States Navy, a tall, white haired, kind yet strong man that many said could run for president and win just by reputation alone. Noventa was everything that he wasn't; he had the love and respect from all his subordinates, a great public image, even those facial wrinkles that made the Admiral look more like a kindly grandfather than a hideous hobo.

While it was no secret that Septum hated Noventa with a passion, Noventa didn't even seem to notice or acknowledge the animosity.

"Do have some time?" the Admiral asked, ignoring Septum's irritated look. "I'd like to speak with you about that project you've been overseeing, Project Maxwell I think it was called."

Not this again. The old man was treading into places he had no business being. Project Maxwell belonged to him and no one else. Besides, there was no way the navy was going to benefit from this, not on his watch!

"I apologize," Septum said though he was in no way apologetic, "but I'm afraid that I can't speak of it. You see, it's…extremely classified. I was just lucky enough to be selected to be involved with it."

"Really?" Noventa replied, raising an eyebrow in question. "I wasn't aware it was under the top secret label. In fact, it only has a firewall that can be passed with a level five special access clearance, which I have. Would you like to rephrase your previous statement, General?"

Septum gritted his teeth; this was just another thing that annoyed him about the Admiral. The man was just too smart for his own good. Well no matter, he was smarter that Noventa.

"Yes, I would," he said. "This is army matters, Admiral, not the navy. There's no need for your involvement in Project Maxwell, _sir_."

Instead of backing off like Septum hoped he would, Noventa chuckled instead. "Then I'm glad that I'm your superior. Last I recall, I was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Congress to be in charge of all happenings and dealings within the Pentagon, the President who also happens to be the Commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, including the army and navy."

"But that's in time of war!" Septum protested.

"And we are at war," Noventa said fluidly. "Have you already forgotten about the wars overseas?"

Septum wanted nothing more than to strangle this man and he would too if he knew he could get away with it. However, this was the _Pentagon_. There were people nearby and security cameras all over the place. There would be no way in hell he would be able to get away with the crime, especially since he didn't have many friends here to support him.

"I'll expect a report on this Project Maxwell by week's end, General," Noventa said as he began to pass by the General. "That would be Friday," Noventa added, stopping just as he was side to side with the other man. "Until then, Septum."

Remaining stock still in the hallway, Septum internally bristled. He had to keep a hold of his temper. Now was not the right time to unleash it. Marching swiftly, he headed towards his office where he locked the door and made sure there was no bugs in the recent vicinity that could pick up on the call he was about to make.

Sitting in his office chair, waiting impatiently with his phone up to his ear, he was mildly relieved when he heard someone pick up.

"Patch me in with Xavien," he ordered and after a couple more minutes of waiting, he was finally in contact with the man he wanted to speak with.

_Xavien speaking._

"You better have something ready for me," Septum growled into the receiver. "Has that test been done yet? I need something and I need it now!"

_Ah, General, just the man I been wanting to speak—_

"I don't have time for your usual bullshit Xavien," Septum growled. "Noventa wants to know about Project Maxwell and he wants to a report by this Friday. There's no more time to delay this any longer!"

_Well that's exactly what you're going to have to do,_ Xavien snapped back, startling the General. _An unexpected problem has risen up and I am in the process of correcting it. Nothing you say or threaten is going to do anything to make it go faster._

"Bullshit!" Septum snarled. "You've had ten years to produce something! Now's the time to show what you've got. You really don't want me blowing your cover up to Noventa, do you?"

There was a pause before Xavien answered. _Are you trying to blackmail me General?_

"If that's what it takes," Septum growled.

_Well, before you do that, perhaps you should know…_

Septum paled as Xavien spoke to him. How…how in hell did that bastard know _that_? He thought he had taken care of that matter years ago! Now he was nervous but he wasn't out of cards yet.

"I'll stall him," he sighed into the receiver and he swore he could feel Xavien's smugness on the other end. "However," he continued, "I'm sending one of my close associates over to keep an eye on you and update me on what's going on, Xavien."

_Excuse me,_ Xavien deadpanned.

At this, Septum smirked. "Don't think for a second that I don't know you're hiding something from me. General Katsaris will be there tomorrow, first thing."

_Do you really want to know what's going on?_ Xavien snapped. _A couple of our test subjects managed to escape and are being uncooperative in coming back, that's what's going on, General. You know that town out west that you've undoubtedly heard about recently? That's just the fallout of a battle that occurred between the two escapees and a team assembled to retrieve them._

"You mean it wasn't some freak storm?" Septum said into the phone, nearly awed. He had seen images of the damage but never in his wildest dreams could he have ever imagined that it was a byproduct of Project Maxwell…

_That's correct, General,_ Xavien retorted. _I told you that I don't deliver defective weapons. Right now, two of those weapons are opting to be defective and I want to know why, just as much as you do if not more so. Leave this matter to me and keep your little watch dog on his leash and I will produce as promised._

The comment aimed at his close friend Katsaris managed to cut through the little web that the other man had been spinning and Septum decided to rein in Xavien. "Katsaris will be arriving as scheduled," he growled. "Don't forget your place Xavien. Even if you take me down, I'll take you with me as well. Last I checked human experimentation was _illegal_. You have just as much to lose as I do so stop fucking around over there and _produce_.

Before Xavien could even utter a single word, Septum had slammed his phone back into its cradle but immediately picked it back up to make the needed preparations. He needed to call Katsaris and inform him of this development and arrange for transport. The rest would have to be done on Xavien's end.

Meanwhile, though, he was going to have to do some major wheeling and dealing to get Noventa off his back.

---

Xavien glared at the phone he held from which a dial tone rang out.

Damn it, things weren't going as he had planned… No matter, he would just have to compensate for this latest development. It shouldn't be that much of a deal. Not even Septum knew how far Project Maxwell went and he was determined that it would remain that way, for now at least.

However, he needed to get this all under wraps quickly before it could have the chance to fall apart. He had spent too long and expended so much energy into this that he wasn't about to terminate it now, not when he was so close too.


	19. Hooligans with Horrible Language

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Hooligans with Horrible Language

The Last Chance Bar and Saloon was an isolated building in the middle of nowhere where the local population in a fifty mile radius would go to just have a drink to take the edge off. Of course, that was before the local motorcycle gang took it over and made it their hub. They were a group of burly tough guys with handlebar mustaches, large beer bellies, and hair growing out from all parts of their bodies, even from places that most people didn't know you could grow hair.

They may have been the top of the food chain in these parts, but none of them could compare to the small group of teenagers that had stomped into their domain. One reckless bar fight later, which the entire gang that was there had been massacred, only six souls remained inside the Last Chance Bar and Saloon. It shouldn't be too surprising that all six of them were the ones that made of the small group of teenagers that had intruded and decimated the original inhabitants.

So, in a good cheer to celebrate their acquisition, they had agreed to binge out on all the alcohol that still remained. It was then found out that Jason, the head of the group, had an extremely low tolerance for alcohol. In fact, he had had only a sip from an unopened bottle of beer and already had an alcoholic buzz. It was also surprising to see him sitting on a barstool, leaning against the bar itself and singing some incomprehensible song with a slurred voice after only ten minutes of drinking, if you could call a single bottle of Budweiser drinking. At least he didn't seem to have any control over his powers while in this state else there probably wouldn't be anything else left of the building.

Or so they could only hope.

Of course, that was just Kyle's belief on the situation. He shuddered at just the thought of a drunk Jason in control of all the air around them… Now, whether or not it was helpful, Vera seemed to be sticking close to Jason's side where he demonstrated his own ability in being able to stretch himself, kinda like that Mr. Fantastic guy from a comic book Kyle read once. Of course, Vera was not sticking nearby out of concern for Jason's well being but to steal small gropes that the other boy knew Jason wouldn't remember in the morning.

Further down the bar sat everybody's favorite fire wielder who was glaring balefully at Jason, snorting in contempt at their unofficial leader's lack of alcohol tolerance. From the moment he met him, Kyle knew he'd have to keep an eye on this guy. He had a good feeling that this fellow, Mobias he believed his name was, wouldn't not stoop to dirty tricks and low blows to get something he wanted.

Tucked away in a corner of the bar was Yun and the strange noises that came from over there disgusted the redhead to no end. See, not all the bikers here had been killed when the others had fought back, Kyle not being one of them as he was a lover, not a fighter. For those unlucky enough to still somehow hold on to consciousness, Yun had dragged them away so that he could entertain himself by causing the grown men to scream and cry in agony every time the sadist touched them with a tentacle. The acid of course would cause its damage but then Yun would cauterize the wounded area with some of the alcohol from the bar, causing more untold pain to the unfortunate. By now, those who were still alive were moaning and groaning out noises that no human should be able to utter, their throats having closed from their raw cries of pain. And sadist was nowhere finished with them yet…

Kyle felt sorry for them, almost. Despite being a pacifist at heart, due to the more private sessions he had with the higher ups who had tried so desperately to get rid of this "debilitating defect" of his, he had lost the usual conscience that normal people had. Then again, most of the guys back at the labs had lost their consciences as well…

Snorting, thankful that he was at a table that hadn't been destroyed in the bar fight, he snagged the last shot of whisky on the table, much to his drinking companion's dismay.

"Hey, that was mine!" Curtis exclaimed, glaring at the redhead indignantly.

The small part of Kyle that was addicted to stealing suddenly felt that all too familiar feeling of satisfaction, the redhead's kleptomania fulfill from that one statement for only a minute before he had the urge to steal something else. It was a never ending cycle…

"And sssssshhhhhe ssssssssaid…" Jason bawled out in song from the bar, pausing as he tried to remember the words that came after that but wasn't having much success with his alcoholic fuzzed mind. "And sssssshhhhhe sssssssaid…the rest of the wordsssssshhhh of the ssssssshhhhong…" He hiccupped and giggled incessantly until his head dropped down to the bar's surface, banging against it.

Boy was this embarrassing. Kyle turned his head away from the display and towards the remains of the bar's entrance just in time to see a small trail of dust rising in the distance, slowly moving towards them. Getting up, Kyle moved towards the entrance to greet their returning comrade but the closer that Risk came, the more Kyle began to frown. Why wasn't he stopping? Oh shit—!

He dodged out of the way just as he realized that even though Risk was trying to stop, he seemed to be unable to thus ending up somehow tripping over his own feet and tumbling against the earth and soon after the bar floor before coming to an abrupt stop against a wall. Kyle winced with every thud that signified Risk's body impacting some sort of surface and he peeked at the back of the bar to see Risk back up on his feet, surprisingly, and dusting himself off.

"So what's the word on the home front?" Kyle asked wryly.

"They're at a circus!" Risk chirped, beaming. "I made sure they were there so I ran around it five times and nobody saw me! Then I ran—"

"We get the point," Kyle interrupted patiently, glancing over to the inebriated Jason.

"Hooray!" the drunk cried out. "We get to kill people!" Then, before anything else could happen, he fell off his stool unto the floor where he remained passed out. A snort of contempt from Mobias and a wild laugh from Yun was the only immediate response to this and Kyle sighed exasperatedly as Vera tried to make a move on their unconscious leader.

Perhaps they should wait until tomorrow, after they had endured their hangovers first, before they attempted anything else.

---

Things were winding down for the night. The main event was long over with and only small groups of stragglers were still around, occupying themselves with the carnival rides.

This sat well with Trowa. It meant that business was good and when business was good, that meant there wasn't as much pressure to travel around. Hell, if things continued to go so well in the next couple weeks or so, they could call it quits come late fall. This year had been going exceptionally well and a well-deserved break for all the circus folk was in order.

Strolling about the circus grounds in cargo pants and a loose fitting undershirt, Trowa took his time in heading back towards his and Catherine's trailer. There was still the question of what to do with their hitchhikers. How were the sleeping arrangements going to be handled? Knowing Catherine, she already knew what she wanted to do and there was nothing that he could do to persuade her otherwise. Looks like he was going to have to get comfy in the driver's seat tonight. At least the seat could recline back so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

Passing by some of the closing game stalls, he noted that Heero and the girl he knew as Relena were strolling around, Relena holding a large stuffed animal that Heero undoubtedly won for her. Looks like they made a date out of tonight. Was there something between them? He could have sworn on the drive here that those two were, or at least Heero was, in the midst of a fight of some sort. The way Heero would blush told Trowa that either it was something extremely embarrassing or the girl had found out about the private stash. Every guy, no matter their age, from the east coast to the west coast had some hidden stash of porn that they hid from the female population, Trowa himself not being an exception to that. That was probably the reason for it but Trowa wasn't too knowledgeable about what kids these days fought about.

Entering into the area where all the RVs and trailers were parked, he noticed the other girl that had been accompanying Heero and Relena. Dorothy or something like that he believed, not that he really cared. She was staring off into space, her arms wrapped around herself as the chill that came to the desert at night attacked her body. She shivered and wrapped her arms tighter around herself but other than that she remained where she was.

Now that he had taken into account where those three were, all that remained of their guests were still unaccounted for. He had a good idea where they were but he wasn't going to go rushing off to confirm it. He still needed to get some thoughts ordered out first before coming to that.

He didn't know what it was but there was something about Solo and Duo, some sort of magnetism that drew him to them and their company. Was it something in their eyes? Duo's were innocent though Trowa was certain they hid something but the violet orbs did focus on the much larger blond most of the time revealing some sort of dependence the boy had on him. As for Solo, those green eyes were hardened, always on guard for some reason as if he was suspicious of his surroundings. The only time he had seen those eyes soften was when they were checking up on Duo. They seemed like two completely people, now that he thought about it. What had brought them together? And why couldn't he keep his mind off of them?

It was a riddle that he craved to solve, one that wouldn't give up its secrets willingly but he was sure that in the end it would be worth it. All he needed to be was patient and indifferent about the matter. If he showed any interest other than courteous curiosity, then the answers he desired would be held away from him like a carrot tied to a stick, always dangling before him so closely but always just out of his reach. It was a game he knew very well and he knew the rules quite intimately.

Reaching the RV, he entered and stopped while in the threshold, noticing that the two boys he had just been thinking of had already made themselves comfortable on the small couch, a blanket draped on the both of them. It was cute the way Duo's head was pillowed against Solo's muscled shoulder and Solo's chin was resting on top of said head. They were almost like puppies only without the fur.

"Ya just gonna stand there or are ya gonna come in an' close the door?" Solo's hoarse voice suddenly spoke up, interrupting the unibanged man's musings. An eyelid cracked open to reveal the hints of a green eye that was observing him despite the distance between them. "You're lettin' da cold in already," the blond complained.

"Sorry about that," Trowa replied as he crossed the rest of the way through the RV's threshold and closed the door behind him. "I'm surprised you two haven't taken the bed."

"Jizz on it," Solo murmured as he shifted, Duo moving against him unconsciously to allow the movement before settling back against the blond. "Ain't no way I'm sleepin' on something with somebody's sex juice on it."

Trowa blinked in the surprise as it took him a few seconds longer than usual to interpret that bit of information. A small smirk spread across his face as he thought of what Catherine's reaction to _that_ would be. He had a good idea of who was responsible for it and he made a mental note to make sure that he had a little _talk_ with a certain couple about it.

It was just plain rude taking advantage of someone's hospitality like that…

Taking out a spare blanket and a pillow from a cubbie, he sat in the driver's seat and reclined the chair back, getting comfortable in the makeshift "bed" he would be using that night. Hopefully he would be deep in slumber by the time Catherine got back and discovered Solo and Duo's earlier discovery. It was an amusing thought that he entertained but one that he pushed out of his mind quickly. Sleep was the order of business and he needed to get as much of it as he could in preparation of tomorrow.

On top of his duties as a circus performer and employee, there was going to be the inevitable drama that was sure to take place and he wanted to be ready no matter what came out of it.


	20. An Ill Wind Upsets Animals

Author's Note: This chapter originally started out as a filler but it just didn't get to the point that I was satisfied with it. So, I combined it with the next chapter and voila, we have a set-up chapter instead. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

An Ill Wind Upsets Animals

Out of all the things that Trowa Barton valued, it was a peace of mind that was his most precious possession. To achieve this state was not much of a challenge for the circus worker but there was really only one place he could get the Zen of it all, or at least enough of it to block out the usual traffic that attacked his mind every hour of every day.

That would be right next to the lion cages stroking the head of the large male lion like he was a housecat. Ever since he had been young, Trowa had always found he had an affinity for animals. It was a connection of sorts and the animals themselves seemed attracted to him as well since even the most ferocious of beasts could be tamed with just a touch from the young man.

There was an understanding there, something so deep and so primal that no amount of pondering over it could solve. So he just let it be. A simple solution, yes, but what else could he do? It wasn't as if he was bothered by it, no, he welcomed it wholeheartedly.

It was noon right now and business as usual was starting up again. It was the lunch time of the day so there weren't many people about. However, there was the mid-afternoon show to get ready for and Trowa could honestly say he wasn't looking forward to it.

To make a long story short, Catherine had discovered the bed, forced a confession out of the two perpetrators Heero and Relena, and had them cleaning all their laundry, including the bed covers and comforter, as reparation. Trowa was so glad that he was a natural early rising as he was able to miss most of the drama though he couldn't say the same for all of their guests. Solo and Duo were conspicuously absent in physical presence and Dorothy hadn't come back to the trailer at all until Catherine was in the midst of her cloud of righteous fury. The blonde girl seemed to have stayed up the entire night and was paying for it but since Catherine was on a rampage, she too had vanished, probably begging one of the other circus workers for a place to sleep.

Not that he was really concerned. No, he was more concerned about what was to be coming. Catherine would undoubtedly be still in her foul mood and who exactly would be bearing the brunt of it? That's right, it would be him since he would be the one tied to a target and the knife thrower would be throwing sharp objects at him. It was not something he looked forward to, not at all. Just the thought of it alone was another to disrupt his Zen and allow the usual noise to intrude on his inner solitude

So the best solution was to get back to his center and to do that involved him petting and stroking the head of a large male lion, the oversized feline purring as he sprawled out next to the youth. It did not matter to Trowa that this beast could strike at him with a massive paw or bite his hand off with ferocious teeth. He took the risks head-on and had yet to experience any sort of backlash from it. Plus, being in such a situation always made him oddly calm, his head becoming so clear that he could focus on a task before him and not concern himself with minor details that could distract him.

It was needless to say that he took this opportunity readily to try and coax out some answers to the mystery that had been plaguing him ever since yesterday. Who exactly were Solo and Duo? How could they do the things they could, well at least the things he had seen Solo doing. He wasn't aware if Duo was capable of such feats but it would be a good idea to keep an eye out just in case. Back to Solo, though, he knew that those displays of strength the blond had been showcasing couldn't have been natural. The fellow had been picking things up that the circus strongman couldn't lift up to save his life and Solo's build in no way, shape, or form hinted at the strength that he possessed. So how had he gotten it? Had someone given it to him? Or had it been forced? He did not want to go there quite yet as that drudged up some intimate memories (or were they nightmares?) that hit too close to home. The fingers of his free hand twitched spasmodically, as if recalling a pain from long ago.

No! He did not want to go there! As if sensing his agitation, the lion he was petting lifted his head and turned golden-brown eyes on him, his purring rumbling from his chest. He just focused on accepting the comfort that the lion beside him could offer. That was how it always happened, didn't it? Whenever he got upset, one of nature's creatures would seek him out to try and aid him in his time of need.

Calming down and refocusing on his center, he relaxed against the lions' cage and the large animal plopped his head back down as soon as he was sure that the human was better. Trowa sent a mental "thank you" which he was sure was received, even though the lion didn't seem to acknowledge. Then again, all felines had that same reaction from the mightiest of lions to the meekest of housecats. Now, if it was a dog…

Then again, he was more of a cat person anyway, he could only tolerate so much loving attention that a dog could bestow and his tolerance for it wasn't very large.

So what had he been thinking of again? Oh yeah, that was right, Duo and Solo. What secrets were those two hiding? What was the key to solving the riddle those two represented? He always did like solving mysteries mainly because he hated to leave them alone and unsolved.

Now how was he going to solve this one?

---

A small twister drunkenly crossed the unforgiving desert but for some reason its winds weren't tearing apart the landscape like its deadlier cousins would. Slowly, it began to die down before the winds holding it together blew apart and fled away to reveal a group of seven boys clad in black, skintight uniforms.

The leader of this group, the master of the wind himself, stumbled ahead of the other six, a large bottle of half-drunken alcohol clutched protectively in a hand. He hiccupped and nearly tripped over himself but managed to catch himself before plummeting to the hard earth.

Behind him, a particular redhead was glaring balefully at a certain fire wielder.

"I can't believe you got him drunk, again, Mobias," Kyle reprimanded. "I bet you did it on purpose, didn't you?"

"What? It's funny!" Mobias defended himself, enjoying every moment of Jason making a fool of himself.

Zipping ahead and returning just as quickly, Risk reported that the circus they were heading for was just up ahead and that it would only be a few minutes worth of walking before they reached it. Whether or not he was taking into account that his walking pace was much faster than those of his comrades remained to be seen.

"Then let'ssssss goooooo…" Jason slurred happily as he stumbled ahead in the wrong direction.

Vera "helped" the drunk-off-his-ass boy out with one of his stretching arms, sneaking a grope or two while he was at it, and led the drunk in the right direction. Watching the spectacle, Kyle shuddered and cast another glare at Mobias before stalking off after the group.

Feeling two gazes on him, Mobias snapped his head around to see Curtis and Yun and demanded, "What?"

Shrugging, Curtis ignored him and followed after the others, Yun at his heels only because he didn't want to get left behind. That left Mobias to his lonesome, the boy glaring at the backs of the others which was soon replaced by a smug grin at seeing Jason one more time.

Once they had taken care of Solo and his twerpy sidekick, Mobias was going to make sure that Jason would have an "accident" somewhere along the way. It would be what he deserved for humiliating him.

---

The animals were on edge for some reason, not even Trowa could calm them down. Now, if it had been just one of them, he wouldn't have been so worried but _all_ of the animals? Those that could were pacing in their cages while the elephant had to be retied to its post three times already and had almost trampled someone over.

It was an ill wind that passed over the circus yet the Ringmaster declared that the show would go on as scheduled, despite many of the circus worker's superstitions. However, each worker put a smile on their face so as to not scare away any of the circus-goers and rake in some money before closing for the night and maybe getting the hell out of here come morning.

And did they mention that it was only the cash that was keeping them there?

There's was a lot of it coming in, especially since the denizens of the nearby town didn't seem to feel anything wrong in the air and were packing themselves onto the circus grounds fervently in search of anything to provide them entertainment and who were they to refuse them and their wallets?

In the midst of the crowds, taking full advantage of their "free admittance" to every single ride, were Duo and Solo, the two have just gotten off one of the rides and both looking for the next one to get on.

"How about that one!" Duo pointed out excitedly, his finger aimed at an odd metal…thing that had the word "Gravitron" emblazoned on the front with neon lights.

Seeing how some of the circus-goers were coming out it stumbling, as if they couldn't keep their proper footing, Solo wholeheartedly agreed. It looked good even though the outside was really plain-looking. The inside was a completely different story. With the exception of the entrance/exit, it was one circular wall covered not with seats but flat, plastic plates that had bars separating one another. In the center of it was what seemed to be a circular booth-like station that was obviously where the controls for the ride were located. Watching other potential riders situating themselves against plates, Solo and Duo shrugged to each other and copied the multiple examples before them, having no clue as to what was going to be happening soon.

As soon as the ride operator was sure no one else would be getting on, he closed the entrance and got into the center booth, giving last minute instructions that nobody listened to. Then as soon as the operator was done speaking, there was a slight jolt and then everything began to move. While the central booth remained stock still, the circular room spun, slowly increasing its speed by the second. Solo snorted, unimpressed.

As the seconds ticked by though, Solo felt his body being pressed up against the flat plate that his back was situated on and he was finding it a bit harder to move his limbs. Never did it occur to the blond that the natural force of gravity was what was holding him in a tight grip, the power of G-force keeping him pinned back. Then, as the ride approached a certain speed, the plates behind all the riders shifted upwards, taking the riders with them.

And it just seemed like it was still speeding up. The one major clue to the blond that the ride was coming to a close was when the plate he was pressed against slid back down to its original position and about a minute later everything came to a slow stop. With wobbly legs, his hands shaking for some reason unknown to him, Solo managed to stumble his way out of the once spinning chamber and back out into the open where he immediately found the nearest trash can and perched himself next to it, the worst coming from his mouth a dry heave. He was disoriented, he couldn't walk straight, and he felt like he could barf at any second.

As Duo finally reached his side, he looked down at the smaller and they made an unspoken agreement between themselves. They were getting back on that thing again!

Had they not been so focused on their plans, they probably would have noticed a particular blond speedster in a skintight, black uniform stumble out from the ride the two had vacated previously and disappear into the crowd before them.

---

Trowa frowned.

Just a minute ago, he had witnessed one of the lions almost barrel out of its cage, its fang bared wickedly. He knew that this particular animal was usually docile and never once had it acted like it was currently doing. However, this couldn't be put to something wrong with the lion itself since it was not the only one behaving in such a matter. Even the tigers were snarling at some unseen threat.

There was no way they could let these animals out for the Big Show. It would not only be dangerous to them but also the spectators who had no clue as to what was going on backstage. It was drawing closer and closer to Showtime and even the Ringmaster himself was at a loss of how to proceed. He was there, staring at the ferocious beasts like he had never seen them before, wondering how he was going to work with this.

Trowa found that not even his presence could calm them down and if anything, he was getting the sense that the animals were trying to warn him. Warn him about what? What could be so bad that it could raise even this threatening reaction from even the gentlest of beasts?

---

Heero gripped his hands tightly on the hand, his eyes determined as Relena watched on anxiously, rooting for him all the while. Raising up the large mallet, he put all his strength into it as he swung the large object in an arc onto a large pin. In reaction, a small projectile shot straight up until the satisfying ringing of a bell sounded. Accomplishment, nothing could give the Japanese youth anymore satisfaction than that.

Once again, he had won at the strength test carnival game and had won a large stuff animal to give to Relena, a prize that the giddy girl took from him delicately, as if the large, fluffy object was going to vanish from his grasp. He had always been good at that game, even when he was young so it was no surprise to Heero that he won so easily.

"What now?" he asked Relena conversationally, draping an arm around the blond's shoulders.

"Hungry?" Relena asked back in reply, her eyes not on Heero but on a concession stand where a circus worker was selling cotton candy.

Chuckling, Heero said, "I'll be right back, don't wander off too far."

"I won't," Relena assured him.

"HEY! What a ripoff!" a boisterous voice shouted from behind, startling the two teens. "Game'ssss rigged!" the voice slurred, followed by another voice shouting out, "Hey, there's no alcohol allowed on the premise! Security!"

Turning around to peek at the crowd slowly growing behind them, both Heero and Relena froze in their places at the person in the center of it. Waving a nearly empty bottle of gin around, there stood an all too familiar boy dressed in an odd, skintight, black uniform. Seeing the black hair with the white tips, both teens felt rush of terror grab a hold of their hearts.

They recognized that boy and neither of them were glad about it. It was the same boy, the same one that had been involved with the destruction of their hometown. It was too surreal seeing him again and drunk to boot.

"My money'sss good 'round here like everybody elsssseee…" the boy slurred, taking another swallow from the bottle.

"But you haven't even paid anything!" the game operator exclaimed.

"Sssezzzz you!" the boy shouted. "Get out of my face. I dun like ya anymore. Sssshhhhoo!"

A gentle wind blew past Heero and Relena ominously, gathering within the game booth before tearing the booth apart in the next second. However, it didn't seem like the boy had full control of his powers while he was inebriated since only what was inside the booth was blow out into the gathering crowd, including the game operator.

"Get Solo!" Heero hissed to Relena, his eyes not leaving the drunken boy for a second. "I'll try and hold him up here."

"Heero! Don't!" Relena protested.

"Just go!" Heero ordered. "The sooner you get Solo, the more chance I get of coming out of this unharmed. GO!"

Nodding fearfully, Relena backed away and vanished from Heero's sight, leaving the youth all by his lonesome.

In the direction of the Big Top, an inhuman shriek pierced through the revelry, shattering irreparably the atmosphere that only a circus possessed.


	21. Dancing in the DMZ

Author's Note: Now we get back to the stuff you've all been reading for: the senseless violence! Good news, these next few fights are my longest yet and hopefully they will meet up to _somebody's_ expectations (coughShadowMajincough). Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, graphic violence, death

Dancing in the DMZ

The shriek containing nothing but pain shattered the fun atmosphere that had once held sway over the circus goers. Solo had found himself, along with Duo, recovering from the effects of riding the Gravitron one too many times when they both heard it. Leaving indentions of his hands on a metal trash barrel, Solo told Duo to stay there while he went to check out the ruckus.

Without a thought for other people, Solo shoved aside anybody that either didn't get out of his way or weren't paying any attention to him, the blond blatantly ignoring rude responses shouted after him, occasionally responding back by flipping them the bird. Sure he was still stumbling a little since he was still getting his equilibrium back but he made good time in reaching the large tent where the Main Event of the circus was usually held.

Shoving aside a circus worker who was in his way, he marched right into the Big Top, stopping stock still immediately upon entering. Ahead of him was a large, gaping hole, with edges that were being eaten away by something that looked like white foam, in the tent revealing the animal cages on the other side. There, amidst the cages, bars on some of them having been melted away by something, probably the same stuff that had eaten through the tent, stood a tall teen dressed in a black uniform that the blond had seen only once before.

Son of a bitch! How did they find them?!

Bending his legs slightly, Solo launched himself over the circus ring to the other side, landing mere feet away from the other boy who had some kind of tentacle sticking out from a sleeve, the appendage itself wrapped around the torso of a tiger, an acidic substance burning the poor beast.

"What the fuck!?" he snarled, clenching his fists tightly.

The other boy with long white hair turned his head to look at him and smile lazily. "There you are," the boy stated. "I was looking for you."

Peeling the tentacle off the tiger and letting it fall back down to the floor of its cage, the ghostly boy turning fully around towards Solo and bowing mockingly to the blond. "The name's Yun and I'm here to capture you."

"I don't give a shit what you're name is," Solo growled, cracking his knuckles. "You just got a one way ticket ta da morgue."

"Feisty, I like that," Yun smirked, his silvery eyes shifting into a more dark gray color, almost making them look like pools of black. "Can you try and struggle? I like it when my prey struggles. It makes it more fun that way."

There was an ominous hissing sound followed by a loud ripping noise and sprouting out from Yun's back came a multitude of acidic tentacles Serpentine in looks, the ends of each tentacle were rounded at the ends and looked as if each one would split open if one did not look close enough to see such a thing wouldn't happen. Each tentacle was coated with the acidic liquid that dripped from each one, the acid hissing against the ground upon contact. Slipping from each wrist, two smaller tentacle made themselves known, one of which Yun brought towards his face where he sniffed at the acid, making a face similar to that of a pot smoker.

"You are one sick fuck, ya know that?" Solo deadpanned.

"Whatever you say," Yun shrugged, a tentacle suddenly whipping out and slamming up against the blond, sending him flying back and making another hole in the circus tent.

Solo's unexpected fight was halted as his back slammed into something thin that was giving way behind him but at the same time held itself together. His momentum slowed and then the thin surface he was up against began to propel him forward, sending him flying in the opposite direction that he had previously been going. However, there was less force with this new flight and the blond found himself landing right smack dab into a food stall.

There were cries of surprise and exclamation that thundered in the blond's ears and as he got out from the wreckage, his clothes stained with ketchup or maybe blood since Solo could have sworn he felt something soft, like a person, give way as he landed. Glaring upwards, he caught sight of a very large and very flat person who seemed to have stretched far beyond the limits that a normal person could but was slowly unstretching, returning back to normal. Solo already had an inkling that this guy was also not any ordinary person either.

"Be still my heart!" the other boy cried out, a lisp in his voice. "You're mighty handsome, you know that? I just want to wrap myself all around you and—"

The girly boy was suddenly interrupted by a fist in his mouth but instead of sending the guy flying, the guy's face caved in as the back of his head extended backwards, the elongated lump seeming to form an impression of Solo's fist. Needless to say, Solo was bewildered and slightly disgusted at the sight and immediately brought his fist back, the other guy's head popping back into its regular shape immediately.

"Ooh, so you like it rough?" the lispy voice said flirtatiously.

"Hey! I saw him first!"

Snapping his head to a side, Solo groaned aloud. Yun had tracked him down, those icky tentacles in constant motion as they touched anything in a ten foot radius, the acid eating away at everything including the unfortunate circus goers and workers.

"But he's so handsome!" the other guy whined.

"Hands off, fairy," Yun retorted. "He's mine. Go somewhere else Vera."

Smirking wickedly, "Vera" began humming the opening notes to some song that Solo hadn't heard before but instantly it had a reaction. Yun froze up, eyes widening to the point they were bulging. Not even the tentacles were moving and the acid from the appendages looked as if it was trying to unsecrete itself.

"I'll handle it from here, big boy," Vera said reprovingly, shaking a finger at the frozen Yun.

"You got it," an unfriendly voice said to Vera, two large hands roughly grabbing the boy's head. Before Vera could even say something, Solo twisted his waist and swung the stretching boy like a club, smashing his body into booths and stalls indiscriminately, Vera's body stretching unconsciously all the while, until the stretched out body collided into Yun, Solo finally releasing him.

Vera cried out in pain as the acid from Yun's tentacles began eating away at his uniform to the skin and body beneath. "That hurt!"

"That was the point," Solo muttered dark naturedly as he slowly marched his way closer.

---

Meanwhile, Duo had remained where he was, watching Solo melt into the crowd. The braided boy took hold of the end of his braid anxiously and began to toy with it as he waited for his larger friend to return to him.

"Aww, what's wrong?" a taunting voice spoke up from behind him, startling the boy to no end.

Spinning around, he frowned in confusion as he saw no one there. A sudden tapping on his shoulder freaked him out and whipping around again, he found to his dismay no one there.

What was going on?

"Psst, right here!"

This time, Duo turned around slowly but instead of finding no one there, there were two boys there, one a tall blond boy and the other a slightly shorter brunet with frizzy hair who was leaning against the taller blond casually.

Much to his shame, Duo squeaked pitifully.

Then Reaper Duo took control, the boy's violet eyes flashing to their malevolent crimson.

Neither of the two other boys were phased by this, not even the meeker of the two, but Duo nonetheless entertained homicidal thoughts of what he was going to do to these two once he got his hands on them.

"So you think you're pretty funny, huh?" he growled, his crimson eyes bright enough to radiate light. "Well laugh at this!"

He sent a wall of frozen time at the two. The shorter of the two vanished in a small flash of light while the taller blond was knocked right off his feet and into the air. Instead of tumbling wildly, the blond twisted his body in mid-flight, angling himself with his feet towards the ground so that when he touched down, he was gone in a fast moving blur. As Duo tried to raise up a barrier, the fast moving speedster seemed to pause as he was captured in the shield only to escape it a second later and come face to face with the braided one, close enough that he punched Duo in his chest and was gone long before he even began to stumble back.

As he regained his footing, Duo rubbed his chest, wondering what exactly had just happened. How was that guy able to pass through his barrier like that so easily? It shouldn't be possible; no one else had been able to accomplish such a thing. Maybe he needed a different approach?

Flooding the nearby area with his power, slowing time down to a snail's pace, he was able to detect something blunt that was aiming straight for his head. Not in the least affected by the slowdown in time, he ducked and watched in near awe as a metal pipe traveled at a snail's pace, entering the space that his head had just been in. Snapping his head around, he saw the other boy, the one that had disappeared (teleported?) earlier, a look of exertion contorting his face.

However, before Duo could take any advantage of it, a white light enveloped the boy's body and he was gone, consumed entirely by the light. As his attention was captured by this, he had forgotten that he was fighting against _two_ opponents and not just one. Of course, it was the speedster that was seemingly unaffected by the area of slowed time and the blond was at Duo's back in an instant, bringing a knee into the small of the braided one's back.

With the unexpected burst of pain, Duo let go of the hold he had on his power and fell to his knees, his hands speeding over to try and protect his aching back. Two hands grabbed his wrists in iron locked grips and pulled upwards.

"Too slow," a voice breathed into his ear. "I can run faster than a speeding bullet, you know. Do you know how fast a bullet travels? Well, it—"

Not having the patience for his educational lesson, Duo gritted his teeth together and blasted the speedster behind him at point blank range with frozen time. The guy was once again up in the air but already was twisting his body, ready to land on his feet again and be on his merry way but Duo was having none of that. While he still could, he sent a projectile of frozen time at the blond only to stare in shock as the blast impacted the guy's feet and then was used as a launch pad that sent the speedster running into near invisibility.

Then his cheek became the recipient of a punch, one delivered by the teleporter who then teleported to Duo's other side and swung a kick into his gut, teleporting again so that he was just above him, his knees slamming against each side of Duo's head. Throwing his body downwards, the teleporter threw Duo off balance and brought him to the ground and not in a gentle way either but he was gone again. His presence wasn't missed as a foot from a certain speeder impressed itself into his gut and forced the air from the time master's body. Duo could have sworn the guy purposely slowed down for that before speeding off again to who knew where.

Coughing, Duo clutched his stomach tightly, his eyes clenched shut. Then, with incomprehensible fury, his crimson eyes snapped opened, the entire eye completely red and the light glowing from them so intense that it made him look demonic. Tendrils of frozen time snaked out grabbed a hold of anything and everything they could. Stalls and booths were torn apart and whittled down to form sharp weapons. Propping himself up in the air with nothing but frozen time covering him, not only using it to shield himself but thickening it so much that he was sure that nothing would be able to get through it.

With an unused tendril of time, he wrecked the very earth that surrounded him and he was pleased to note that ol' Speedy Gonzales wasn't able to avoid it or stop in time that it sent him out of control until his body impacted the side of the Gravitron harshly, putting an impressive dent into the hull.

Then his weapons went on the attack, blocking the attempts that the teleporter was making an attempt to try and hit him, Duo's thick barrier preventing him from getting any closer and having to dodge the sharpen projectiles flung at him by teleporting to elsewhere.

All the while in his anger-fueled rage, Duo did not notice that some of the things that he was hitting with his weapons were people unlucky enough to be close to him, their blood gushing from the inflicted wounds, wounds that Duo was blind to.

---

It was too much for Trowa to see the suffering that the circus animals were being subjected to. The once proud beasts were sprawled on the ground up in their broken cages, the sides looking like mashed meat and coagulated blood, whimpers of pain escaping their snouts as they looked up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to stop the pain they were experiencing.

However, seeing the dead corpse of the only male lion there was the clincher, the one thing that caused the unibanged youth to snap.

He was going to find the sons of bitches who were responsible for this travesty and once he did…

…they would feel the power of nature itself tear them apart into little pieces.

---

Heero and Relena when crouching low, both casting wary looks at the drunk wind master who was oblivious to the menacing sounds that shrieked out "Fight!" as he continued to stumble around the crowdless circus grounds. Plus, hearing the shrieks from the other circus goers was a good sign that this guy hadn't come alone.

He had brought friends with him.

"Damn it!" the intoxicated boy grumbled, waving his empty bottle around. "Can't a guy get sssshhhhome sssshhhervice 'round heeeeeere?" he slurred before the wind torn up a couple of the surrounding booths.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he became determined. "Relena," he hissed. "Get some place safe and stay there. I'll handle this until help comes."

"But Heero…!" Relena protested.

"Just do it!" he interrupted. "I'll handle this, now go!"

Looking at her boyfriend fearfully, Relena crept away and when Heero was sure she was gone, he began to look around for anything he could use to try and neutralize the drunken wind master.

---

Fighting Vera was…frustrating, to say the least.

So what if the guy…thing could stretch himself from here to the other side of the world? The blond couldn't even feel anything the guy tried to do and didn't budge an inch when Vera tried using other things to try and hit him with. However, that also seemed to have an adverse effect where Solo's own punches and whatnot had no affect either. Every time his fists sank into that body which seemed to be the flattest thing you ever saw. When he tried going for Vera's head, the damn thing would flop a bit but didn't seem to affect the guy either.

Needless to say, Solo was coming to the end of his rope. He was going to beat this guy, even if he had to tear him apart to do so.

"Why won't you die?!" the blond snarled as he grabbed a hold of Vera's arm only for said arm to slip out of his hand easily.

"Ooh, do you know how cute you look right now?" Vera teased. "I just want to wrap my arms around you and squeeze the life outta ya."

Action copying his words, Vera's arms took that stretching quality but curved around, avoiding the long haired blond, giving him this sinking feeling that something was up. Just as soon as Vera stopped talking, Solo found out just how right he was as suddenly the stretched out arms became taunt and moved in, wrapping him up so that only the areas that consisted from his shoulders and up along with his feet were the only uncovered surface on his body. True to Vera's words, Solo could feel the mummifying restraints squeezing against him but not so much that he was starting to have trouble breathing. Then again, perhaps that was because of his own invulnerability protecting him.

The thing that did give him trouble breathing was seeing Vera's torso obscenely stretch so that his head and shoulders were a mere foot away from his, Vera's face smirking flirtatious at him.

"Did anyone ever tell ya you are one ugly son of a bitch?" Solo asked bluntly, amber eyes narrowing as he got his breathing in check.

"You're the first," Vera giggled, looking amused. "Maybe I can change your mind about that."

Solo jolted and he angrily growled, "Did you just grope—"

He was cut off suddenly and horribly as Vera crashed his lips onto his, giving him a kiss that was definitely not wanted. If there was one experience that Solo did not want, it was kissing a guy, no ifs ands or buts about it. So, he did the only thing he could think of to strike back.

There was a muffled shriek and Vera snapped his head back, stopping quickly as his tongue stretched impossibly out of his mouth, Solo's teeth furiously cutting into the pinkish organ with a vengeance.

"Eeeet oooooo!" Vera whined as best as he could while Solo only increased the pressure his teeth had on the tongue. Frantically, Vera's hands managed to peel themselves out of the wrappings they were in and stretched up towards the long, thin, pink hostage, grabbing it gingerly and trying to pull it back.

Solo was having none of that and clenched his teeth tighter, sending a sharp spike of pain into Vera. Then the unexpected happened as suddenly blood splattered in his face and Vera was able to pull his head away fully, screaming in pain. Well what do you know; he had managed to bite the freak's tongue off judging by the amount of blood spilling from Vera's mouth and the fact that he could a soft foreign object in his own mouth.

Calmly, he spat it out in Vera's face.

Whether or not that caused Vera to loosen his hold on the blond, Solo didn't know but he took advantage of it to wretch his arm free just as Vera screamed out in pain again, his flatten body arching. Blinking at what seemed to be some sort of masochistic, spontaneous action, Solo caught light gleaming off of a sharp blade, one that was sticking…right…through…Vera!

Shifting his head to aside, he noticed that Catherine stood a distance away from them, a handful of knives ready to be thrown at a moment's notice. Taking the opportunity, Solo grabbed the sharp-edged blade, knowing full well that the knife couldn't hurt him, and forced it to a side, cutting through more of Vera's flat body, blood spilling out like a faucet. Tossing the bloodied knife away, Solo grabbed Vera by a shoulder and yanked, finishing off the tear and fully separating the top part of Vera's upper body from the rest of him.

The drop caused by gravity and the fact that the part of Vera that was still wrapped around him and not supporting him anymore was a small surprise but the welcomed feel of the ground beneath his feet was glorious. Vera's body thickened, both pieces of it, the stretched out limbs peeling themselves off the blond until a body laid at his feet, wrapped comically around his feet.

"That…wasn't…nice…" Vera wheezed, blood streaming out his mouth before his eyes rolled up into his head.

With no reverence whatsoever, Solo tossed the part of Vera he was holding away like it was a chunk of meat.

Having completely forgot about Catherine's presence, he was startled as he heard a feminine shriek and spun around to see what the commotion was. Now, even Solo had to admit this, Catherine was one tough bird. However, there were certain things that even she would have problems with, especially against Yun and his little tentacle friends, a few of which were secreting enough acid to eat away Catherine's knives while one was wrapped around her lower arm, a faint sizzling sound coming from it while Catherine struggled with all her might to get away, a few of Yun's other tentacles hovering around her and ready to pounce.

Now, there were few people that Solo respected in the world and Catherine happened to be one of them. Anybody who could throw a knife as well as she could deserves it. But to see this was more than enough to piss Solo off again.

"Hey!" he bellowed, catching both of their attentions. Cracking his knuckles, he continued, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"


	22. Everyday Combat

Author's Note: You're all in for a special treat; to date this is the longest chapter I have ever made for any story that I have written. And guess what, it's all action-packed so for those of you hoping for any kind of romance, don't you remember my warning back in Both Sides of the Tracks? There'll be as much romance in here as a Jerry Bruckheimer movie so give up on it. Now, let's get back to all the senseless destruction. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, graphic violence, death

Everyday Combat

Kyle shook his head in dismay as he watched Risk and Curtis get the tables turned on them. He had lost track of all the others when they had first entered the circus grounds, much to his shame, and it had only been luck that he had stumbled upon this.

Once again he shook his head. And he had been having a good time too, what with stealing everything he could get his fingers on from wallets and purses to those little gaudy stuffed toys and a set of keys that he had no recollection of taking. Guess he had to do something to save his comrades' butts, huh? But what could he do? He didn't like fighting, not at all, especially if he was taking part as well. If he hadn't been so talented with his own powers, he thought grimly, he would have been called a failure and probably terminated. He knew that piece of information because he had eavesdropped on the boss man with the weird eyes once and hadn't done it since.

If there was one thing that he was, it was crafty. Making sure that no one could see him, literally in this case, he summoned up his own power and eyed the twisting of the light waves before him critically. What to do, what to do… Hmm, what if he tried this…no…or how about…no, that doesn't work either…

Glancing up as he saw Curtis land only a few feet from him, rolling out of the way just as a very sharp object planted itself into the ground where he had lain just previously. He wasn't surprised by his fellow not seeing him since he was refracting the light waves around him to create a cloak of invisibility on himself. Wait a minute…oh, that sounded like a good idea!

Manipulating the light waves before him, a see-through form began to take shape.

---

Duo was still in his blind rage, not caring about anything around him so long as he got a hold of the two assholes he was fighting and tore them apart. Speeding up their lifeforce was too light a punishment for these two. No, he had them on the ropes; he was going to show them all why exactly nobody messed with him.

He made no taunts, did not gloat, hell, he didn't even commentate on what he was doing or making bad puns. Maybe that was why he seemed so eerie to the other two boys.

Catching a blur from the corner of his eye, he readied a barrage and let loose. The blur was managing to dodge them all but then the guy's luck ran out and he was impaled with a large, thick metal bar/pipe that Duo had picked up somewhere, he couldn't remember. However, getting a good look at his victim, he paled and all blind fury in his body drained out in an instant.

"S-s-solo?" he gasped, his powers weakening and lowering him back to the ground. He stumbled towards the taller blond who was barely standing, clutching the metal bar that was sticking right through him. Those pained green eyes pierced Duo's heart and caused him untold emotional pain.

"Why Kid?" Solo coughed, his legs buckling beneath him. "How could you…?"

"Oh no," Duo uttered, his horror growing with every second. "Please no…"

And then suddenly, Solo seemed to wisp away and the metal bar clattered to the ground. Staring dumbly at that, he was unaware of the running footsteps heading straight towards him. What he was aware of was a fist catching him in the back and carrying him a few feet before he went flying straight into the funhouse. He crashed through the thin wall and straight through a mirror before coming to a direct stop.

He laid there stunned for a couple seconds, pushing himself up with his elbows and glancing around to determine where he was. From the light that was being emitted from the hole in the wall, he could see himself in the many mirrors and he grimaced at seeing a gash on his forehead, blood streaming down from the wound and onto his face.

What the fuck had just happened?

Pressing the fingers of one hand onto his closed eyelids, he wiped away any blood or small particles of debris that may have settled there and opened up again only to stare in horror once more. Reflected in every single mirror were the two assholes he was fighting, the speed demon and the teleporter. Each reflection was in a walking motion but no matter where he looked, he couldn't see where the real McCoys were.

Getting to his feet, calling on his powers as he did so, he froze again as he saw the visage of Solo again, the metal bar still sticking through his body, his mouth opening and closing as if he was speaking but no audible words could be heard. Fearful and not understanding what was going on, Duo shot a blast of frozen time, mirrors shattering in the blast's wake and light reflecting off the individual shards, bestowing on the braided one sights of unspeakable horrors that made the boy begin to question his sanity.

He tried to block it all but he just seemed to make it worse. The visions he saw were nightmarish and his instincts to get out of there were incredibly overpowering but the problem remained how he was going to do that. It seemed as if everything around him was closing in on him, threatening to crush him; his mind couldn't take it anymore!

He had to get out of there, he couldn't breathe properly, it was all becoming too much. Forming a dome of time around him, he blasted it all, destroying the entire funhouse and everything inside of it apart. Words could not describe how great it was to see the night sky again nor could they even touch on the subject of the ground…moving quickly…towards him…as if he was…falling?

Wait—

One painful moment later…

Okay…so he hadn't been hallucinating. That annoying laugh that he was beginning to associate with the teleporter was also another clue that all was right in his head. Apparently, that bastard had grabbed a hold of him and teleported him high up above the ground and let go, letting gravity do the rest. That was so fucking lame…

"Let's finish this thing," he heard the teleporter say, most likely talking to the speedster. "Run him over a few times and knock him unconscious. It'll be easier to drag his carcass back."

Duo only lifted his head in response to glare at the teleporter before turning his head away to see the speeding boy that was closing in on him and was about to make contact in just a few seconds.

Crap.

That's when things got strange. What Duo didn't see was that a root a bit a ways from him had sprouted out of the ground and had grown out about half a foot of so, getting directly in the way of the quickster. The Quickster in question didn't see it either and was completely taken off guard as he tripped over the root, which amazingly didn't give way or anything like that. With his tremendous momentum backing him, the speedster zoomed over Duo's body without laying a foot on him and continued to go straight ahead, causing the teleporter to yelp and duck out of the way.

What Duo did see was not as subtle as the root. Breaking through the ground, what could only be described as large branches, all of which had very pointy ends, the bushel of death currently right in the middle of the speedster's uncontrollable trajectory.

Duo watched in morbid awe as the speedster's body was impaled on the branches, the wooden limbs themselves going straight through the body, blood dripping from the unnaturally sharp ends.

"Shit!" the teleporter cried out in disgust, looking a bit pale as he stared at the bloody mess. Looks like he had a low tolerance for blood…either that or maybe it was the metallic scent that had filled the air coming directly from the speedster's body.

Whipping his head around, the teleporter searched the nearby area until his eyes landed on the still form of a specific unibanged young man who had an aura of indifference about him as he stared back.

Duo blinked stupidly at that. Was that…Trowa? But what was he doing here and why was he staring the teleporting guy down? Didn't he have any sense of self-survival?

"You did that to him, didn't you?!" the teleporter snarled at Trowa, flecks of spit shooting out of his mouth. "You're dead!"

The teleporter warped away but not far as he stopped to grab one of Duo's fallen weapons from earlier and warped again. Meanwhile, a long root shot out of the ground and for some reason one of its sides was incredibly sharp. Trowa grabbed it and plucked it out of the earth easily, his waist twisting as he swung the sharp edged root like a sword. And wouldn't you know it, as if he had predicted it, the teleporter was just arriving in a flash of white just behind Trowa but the unibanged youth's makeshift weapon was still swinging away right into the teleporter's neck, decapitating him.

The teleporter's head flew away, heading towards a game stall that sported a few basketball hoops. The head fell into the basket, twisting around in the net before falling and rolling down towards the forgotten group of basketballs laid. As for the rest of the teleporter's body, it had simply collapsed down to Trowa's feet, the person in question planting his sword-root back into the ground where it was swallowed up by the earth as if it hadn't been there before.

Getting back up to his feet, Duo stared at Trowa silently for a few seconds before demanding, "What the fuck?!"

"Do you really think now is the time for that kind of question?" Trowa replied, oddly dispassionate. "We're not out of the clear yet, that is if we are both on the same side."

Blinking owlishly, the aggressive side of Duo's personality gathered his wits and said, "No, we're on the same side, no need to be getting on me for anything…"

"Good," said Trowa, "because I can sense one more person watching us."

---

From where he stood, Kyle stared in shock as he witnessed the deaths of Risk and Curtis. He had been so shocked by it that he had missed everything that was being said by the traitor and the interloper, that is until the interloper stated that someone was watching them.

"Where?" the braided boy had demanded, his head turning from side to side, trying to find him. Pausing, he asked suspiciously, "And how would you know that?"

The interloper in reply smirked and said, "I can sense him. The earth is telling me he's close by. In fact…" Trailing off, he turned towards the invisible Kyle and pointed straight at him. "…he's right there."

Well, shit.

---

"Bullsssshhhhit," the drunken wind master muttered aloud. "Thisssshhhh issssshhhh BULLSSSSSHHHHHHIT!"

Watching the boy, Heero had picked up one of the water guns from a gaming booth that the wind master had shredded, the one that required a few competitors to blast a spray of water onto a target and fill up a balloon until it popped. He held it up by the nozzle, wielding it like a club as he slowly closed the distance between himself and the drunk. Sweat beaded up on his forehead as he fervently prayed for the guy not to notice him. By now, the drunk was holding an empty bottle that he kept drinking from despite not getting anything from it.

He must have been drunker than hell or something to not notice that.

The wind master paused, bending down to pick up an abandoned stuffed animal. "What's thissshhh?" he slurred, staring absentmindedly at the gaudy toy. Wind gathered around the stuffed toy and tore it apart for the wind master's further inspection, the drunk tossing the toy's remains without a care when nothing else came up from it.

Taking the opportunity, Heero quickened his steps until he was right behind him, and lifted up the empty spray gun before bringing it down with as much force as he could muster.

Now, Heero wasn't the most experienced person when it came to alcohol and alcohol drinkers. Many drinkers developed strong tolerances from drinking, their inhibitions lowering until they weren't there anymore. Sometimes, being drunk could null any pain one might experience. Unfortunately for Heero, that seemed to be the case as the wind master didn't collapse into a boneless pile at his feet. Instead, he stood there, lifting a hand up to feel his head, turning around to stare at Heero blankly.

"Ooowwww," he slurred.

With that, he lifted his arms straight up, dropping his empty bottle onto the ground in doing so. Wind came in from everywhere, gathering together to form two large hands that grabbed a hold of the first thing they could: the Ferris wheel. With ease, the airy hands pulled up and tore the large wheel out of its holdings, the large object now being held up high off the ground, its target being nothing other than Heero.

Dropping his useless water gun, Heero just said, "Fuck this," and ran for his life.

---

It did not matter where you were; anybody in the nearby area who could use their eyes could see the unanchored Ferris wheel hovering just about the circus and carnival grounds like some sort of UFO. Only upon closer inspection could a person see the transparent hands holding it up, ready to throw it at a second's notice.

Which was precisely what happened.

The hands shifted their grips on the wheel and began shoving it forwards towards the circus. When it hit, only chaos could be the result.

Exploding from the earth itself, tearing apart the large tent that was the Big Top came hundreds if not thousands of roots and branches, all of them aimed at the falling wheel. With a lurch, the organic defense met up with the metal and steel bars that made up the wheel and took hold of it on one end, wrapping around the metal bars, stopping its dire progression downwards.

From where he stood, Jason stared upwards at the sight, his mind too fuzzed with alcohol to make out what was happening. Because of that, he was not particularly concerned with the ground beneath his feet buckled and vine-like branches broke through the soil, wrapping themselves around his body, encasing him in a wooden tomb. These branches thickened and continued straight up into the sky and caught hold of the unsupported side of the wheel that had begun to tilt downward and threaten the circus below it.

Steadying it, the Ferris wheel hung above all those still on the circus grounds like a metallic specter in the night sky.

---

"That should do," Trowa commented as he eyed his handiwork. It had been so long since he had done anything of this magnitude but the old burning rush had come back as well and he was enjoying every second of it. But it was more to it than just doing that. Sure, he would have been able to see the Ferris wheel and all but it had been the plants themselves that had warned him of who was doing it and how he was acting. Even though he had never seen the person yet, he allowed the plants to take care of him nonetheless. It wouldn't due to just let the fellow wander about causing mischief.

Now back to other matters.

"You can come on out," he called aloud. "It's no use hiding; we know you're there."

Nothing. Then again, he kinda expected that. From what he had been told by the plants, this guy didn't seem like the fighting type. He had stood by and done nothing, even when he, Trowa, had killed those other two. Well, he supposed there was only one thing to do then.

"Hey Duo," he called out to the braided one. "He's over by the dart throwing booth. Think you can scare him out?"

Glancing at said booth and back towards him, Duo gave him a questioning look. Trowa just nodded at him and waited. Shrugging, Duo launched one of those strange, invisible blasts of his straight towards the booth. The spectator of theirs dropped his own invisibility for a few seconds as he shielded himself from the darts and debris that shot out from the stall's remains, cloaking himself once more as soon as he could.

A few seconds later, the guy dropped his cover again, this time coming out with his hands up in the universal gesture of surrender. "Don't shoot," the redhead called out to them. "I don't want to fight any of you. I'm not like the others."

Trowa just raised his only visible eyebrow skeptically. "So I suppose you aren't responsible for any of this huh?"

"That's right," the redhead answered, nodding his head vigorously.

"Not even the animals?" Trowa pressed, recalling the recent memories of the tortured beasts.

"Not even this one," the redhead replied, a nightmarish, snarling creature springing out of nowhere. It was monstrous and grotesque, like a gigantic, mutated frog with spikes growing out of its body, small tentacles waving about its body like worms, and razor sharp teeth dripping with an acidic drool.

Despite the grotesque sight, Trowa could only roll his eyes at this. The plants were telling him that nothing was there and the stoic earth only confirmed it so he calmly strolled forward and went straight through the illusion, marching straight towards the shocked redhead and grabbing him by the collar of his strange, black outfit.

"Nice try," he deadpanned.

Then the redhead with the goatee's eyes widened and flashed, a bright light momentarily blinding the unibanged youth. He let go of the redhead and rubbed his stinging eyes. He never saw it coming, literally.

A very hard punch decked him but before he could find himself on the ground another blow came into his ribs soon followed by a foot embedding itself into his stomach harshly. He was spun around, whether his body was spinning or flipping was debatable but what felt like a chop on his neck sent what felt like little electrical bolts throughout his body, making him crumple to a curling form on the forgiving ground that had soften to prevent more harm from coming to him.

"Why'd you have to do that?" the redhead sighed as Trowa's vision began to slowly return to him. "I didn't want to fight you but you left me no choice. Why do you people always have to do things the hard way?"

Before Trowa could do anything, though, a foot slammed into his stomach then moved away only to kick him in the head, further stunning him, preventing him from calling out for help from nature's plant life. In fact, the screaming coming from said plants was beginning to distract him. That was his one big weakness; he could never truly block out the noise that he could hear from the wildlife and right now, that was doing him in as the redhead's foot kept retracting and stomping into and kicking him again and again.

Meanwhile, Duo had taken an initiative and was racing towards them, his right hand being held close to his chest, the fingers pressed side to side against one another. He dodged to his left, then to his right as the redhead sent illusion after illusion at him, trying to keep him from coming to Trowa's aid. To speed himself up, he performed the little trick he had done against the lightning brats and created a conveyer belt of time that he ran atop, quickly closing the distance and cutting straight through the illusions.

When he was mere feet away, he thrusted his right hand forwards like it was a knife. However, Kyle twisted around and intercepted him, using a hand chop to hit the attack away at the last minute. Unable to do anything else, Duo felt the redhead's knee slam into his gut, followed by the fluid motion of the redhead slamming his palm into his forehead, forcing the braided one to stumble back.

Even though Kyle was a pacifist at heart didn't mean just because he didn't like fighting that he didn't know how to fight. Back at the labs, when they were trying to "cure" him of his deficiency, they had trained him extensively in the martial arts to try and give birth to some bloodlust hidden within him. However, all it had served to do was make him skilled in fighting but not any closer to forsaking his pacifist beliefs.

Duo, though, did not know any of this and did not care. Before the redhead in front of him could do anything, either to him or to Trowa, he had charged in again, using a barrier of time as a shield that slammed into the guy and forced him back and away from the prone Trowa. Taking his wall down, Duo ready to lay another blow on the other was cut off as the redhead chopped Duo's arms away and jabbed his stomach multiple times and then twirling his body around to land a roundhouse kick on Duo, his foot connecting with a shoulder and sending a stab of pain into the braided one's torso.

Before Duo could even cry out though, the redhead had already grabbed his arm, his own body twisting and pulling upwards, taking Duo up over his shoulder and falling flat to the ground. Regaining his breath quickly, Duo reformed his transparent blade of time, his fingers smashed together and thumb pressing into the side of his hand with all of its worth. Even before the redhead had released his arm, Duo had thrusted his hand upwards, the hand stopping in midair just millimeters from the redhead's body, the redhead himself freezing in his tracks, his eyes bulging as if something had pierced his body, his veins popping out from under his skin which was changing into a purplish-blue color.

As Trowa watched, inexplicably, the redhead's body aged, thinning and wrinkling, hair graying and falling off the redhead's head before his body caved in and exploded into dust in the next second and Trowa found himself coughing as he got a lungful of it.

"Pussy," a crimson eyed Duo muttered, ignoring the aborted glare Trowa threw at him.

---

"Cool," Solo murmured in awe, eyes trained on the sight of the Ferris wheel of doom being held up in the air by large tree branches or some shit like that. He was fully aware that that Yun guy was also staring because who wouldn't? It was a giant fucking Ferris wheel being held up in air only to be stopped by some plantlife with a mind of its own.

What he wasn't aware of was that Yun recovered first from his awe and swung a serpentine tentacle at the distracted blond, nailing him with ease. Solo found his face had reunited with the ground for a good second before he took control of his body again and flipped onto his feet, glaring daggers at Yun.

"That wasn't nice," he growled, echoing a certain homosexual's last words.

"Neither is this," Yun retorted as he brought up an acid covered tentacle close to Catherine's throat but not quite touching it. The knife wielder's eyes were bulging out in fright but she didn't vocalize it, Solo had to give her props for that.

"Are you a man or a coward?" Solo taunted, hoping to anger his opponent so that he would willingly let go of the only girl he respected.

"Neither," Yun shrugged. "I'm a sadist."

"That explains a lot," Solo said quietly to himself. "Why don't ya let her go and fight me man ta man, huh?"

"Why should I?" Yun asked, honestly curious.

"'Cause I can fight back and she can't," Solo stated, bracing himself.

"Good point," Yun acknowledged, nodding his head in agreement. Without giving it another thought, Yun shoved Catherine away and launched himself at Solo, his tentacles carrying him all the way.

With a speed Solo wouldn't have credited him with, Yun collided into Solo and pushed him back, carrying him into a surprisingly untouched stall that shattered into splitters upon contact with his body. Using his strength, Solo shoved the other boy back and rolled to a side, just missing being hit by an acidic tentacle that slammed down into the wooden wreckage where he had just been. Solo continued rolling, a tentacle slamming into the ground seconds after he passed it, until he got back onto his feet, a broken two-by-four in hand that he tried to use as a weapon. Instead, a tentacle wrapped around an end while another broke it in two, acidic fumes smoking from the jagged edges.

Letting go of what was left of the piece of wood, Solo jumped out of the way of another tentacle, flipping his body in an attempt to copy the circus acrobats he had seen the night before, landing next to a spotlight that had been used previously to advertise the circus' presence. Grabbing it, Solo picked the thing up, shining a direct beam of light straight at Yun and proceeded to use the spotlight as a battling ram.

Shading his eyes with a tentacle, Yun stopped the makeshift ram's procession with two tentacles gripping onto opposite sides while another angled itself in front of the spotlight and shot a stream of acid that ate through the glass, bulbs, and circuitry within. Solo shifted his body so that he was barely able to miss the acidic stream that ate a hole through the spotlight. Increasing pressure, Yun shoved the spotlight forward, pushing Solo away as he lost his grip and then tore it in half, throwing each piece at the blond. Solo took the opportunity to punch at both halves, sending them straight back at Yun who batted each one away with the slap of a tentacle and charged straight at him again.

This time, Solo took an initiative and charged back at the other, crashing through tentacles that sought to either stop or slow him down and managing to get a solid punch on Yun's face. Yun recovered quickly and sent a punch of his own out and caught Solo in his neck. Needless to say, Solo was not affected by the blow but before Solo could reciprocate, he found out that when throwing a frenzy of hand-to-hand blows, Yun was much quicker on the draw, no sexual innuendo intended. Yun jabbed at him and uppercutted his chin a few times, all of which had slight to no effect on the blond, and finishing by planting his hands on Solo's broad shoulders and headbutting him. Now that last one kinda made him a bit dizzy and had to have been the strongest of Yun's combat skills thus far, his tentacles being the exception, but Solo got his wits together and returned the favor, headbutting Yun back and causing the guy to stumble back, clutching his forehead in agony. Not willing to let him off so easily, Solo aimed and landed a kick into Yun's gut, which, if not for those tentacles holding him up, would have flattened the guy.

Seeming to have had enough of that, Yun slammed two tentacles on both sides of Solo's head with enough force daze the blond soon followed up by another tentacle imitating an uppercut and send Solo back into, ironically, the wreckage of the booth he had crashed into at the start of the fight. But Solo was back on his feet and charging at Yun, his head lowered like a bull's. He rammed into Yun, said body grabbing him with one hand on his shoulder while the other had a fistful of hair, and carried him back into a nearby stall and broke through that and into the adjacent stall behind it, continuing across a stretch of open ground and right into another stall.

Yun let himself fall onto his back, his tentacles becoming lax to accomplish this but he took Solo with him. Pushing with his legs, he used Solo's momentum against him to send him flying into a carnival ride called "Twister," one that had many seats attached to large metal girders that spun around in a circle, the seats spinning in smaller circles along the way. Solo crashed back first through the large girder, tearing through it like it was nothing but paper, continuing straight into the center rotating axis to which all four, now three, girders were attached to. He only dented this larger metal girder and found gravity taking hold of him again, pulling him back to the uncomfortable ground. As he had been thrown, Solo had felt something tear from his head and when he frantically search it once he recovered, he couldn't tell much about it until he looked back of at Yun and saw a handful of long, blond hair in it.

Oh no he didn't.

Glancing at his handful of hair, Yun just shrugged and smirked at the blond. "Oopsy."

Solo's sight turned red, his eyes radiating an intense amber light.

With a murderous cry that promised nothing more than absolute pain and suffering, Solo charged at Yun, his fist clenched so tightly that they would have broken the skin on his palms and blood would have been trickling from small self-inflicted wounds had he been a normal person. Yun's smirk only grew and his tentacles shot out, this time wrapping around Solo's arms, legs, and torso tightly, restraining the blond tightly, acid beginning to eat at the blond's clothes.

Shaking his head in mock-sorrow, Yun said, "Poor boy," and stuck an acid covered tentacle onto Solo's face, acid secreting onto Solo by the gallon.


	23. I Will Never Surrender

Author's Note: Here's one last chapter for the holidays so Merry Christmas to all. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, graphic violence, death

I Will Never Surrender

Solo thrashed about, much to Yun's delight, trying to escape the torture that Yun was forcing on him, struggling against the tentacles that restrained him. Yun enjoyed every second of it and more as the sight of his prey writhed in agony, serving only to inflame Yun's arousal, his sadistic needs being satisfied and demanding more. More, huh? He could always use more…

He grounded his tentacle into Solo's face, getting the satisfying reaction of Solo's body convulsing while ignoring smell of acidic fumes as his specially produced acid ate away at Solo's clothes. But it was over too soon, much to Yun's disappointment. Solo's body fell to trembling before falling still, not even twitching a muscle. His arousal's shot at glory was stymied, his tentacles loosening their holds on Solo's limbs and torso; now he just felt a void in himself, a void that he had the irresistible need to fill somehow.

Oh well, he just had to go find someone else then. They should be more entertaining than _this_. Needless to say, Yun had completely forgotten about his orders to bring Solo back alive.

Removing the tentacle on Solo's face, Yun blinked in surprise as he caught a blank look on Solo's face, the amber eyes staring at him with a deadness that Yun couldn't begin to describe.

"Moron," Solo deadpanned, much to Yun's shock. "It's gonna take more than _that_ ta kill me."

Solo wretched both of his hands free, one of them grabbing a hold of the tentacle that had been on his face only seconds beforehand, the other hand grabbing and forcing open Yun's mouth.

"Taste of your own medicine?" Solo commented lightly as he shoved the acid dripping tentacle into Yun's mouth and down his throat. Yun's eyes bulged in agony as his own homemade brand of acid slid down the rest of the way into his stomach, eating away his insides in the most painful manner.

Suffice to say, Yun may have been a sadist but he definitely wasn't a masochist, answering the one question that has been on the readers' minds since the character was first introduced.

Solo's squeezed tighter onto the tentacle, forcing more acid out of it and into Yun's body, ignoring the frenzied movements of the rest of Yun's tentacles as they tried to tear him away from their weakening master. Slowly, their frantic movements slowed down until they stopped moving altogether, telling the blond that the ghostly boy he was holding was no longer among the living anymore.

Without so much as a care, he shoved the corpse away from him. Wow, now that was a bit strenuous. Not the physical activity, mind you, but the acting skills he had to employ so that he could get close enough to Yun. He would have done worse but logic had to come into play, all so that he could avenge his hair! The ratasshole deserved worse for that alone…

He hadn't been afraid of the acid itself, no sirree. He was invincible, remember? The only harm that had come to him, other than that small bit of hair being pulled out, was not to his unblemished skin but to his clothes that he found himself groaning over. He was going to have to replace _this_ outfit now. Sheesh, didn't those assholes have any consideration? At all? Otherwise, he was one hundred percent okay.

"Hey _blondie_!"

Solo's left eye twitched irritably. It couldn't be. As he turned slowly around, he found out that yes, it could be. There stood Mobias and within his grip was Ms. Eyebrows who the flame wielder was holding like a hostage, his hand sparking with small flames close to her face.

"What are you doin'?" Solo sighed, clenching his fist in preparation of a fight.

"Ya know this little bitch was watching you?" Mobias drawled. "Is she your sugar momma or something? Your girlfriend perhaps?"

Solo frowned. "What da hell are you on?"

Seeming a little put off by Solo's lack of response, Mobias threatened, "If you ever want to bone your blow-up doll here again, you'll just stay right there and let me burn you to crisp or that's what I'll do to her."

"Go ahead," Solo replied, ignoring the blonde girl's indignant glare and Mobias' look of utter shock.

"Now that's just cold!" Mobias blurted out.

"Why da hell would I want ta screw her?" Solo said scornfully. "I'll admit, she does have a nice rack, but c'mon!"

"I'm right here, you know," Dorothy growled, glaring daggers at the blond.

"And nobody's talkin' ta ya so shut it," Solo replied cheerfully.

That was when Dorothy shoved Mobias away from her, Mobias' flames having extinguished themselves a while ago and marched over to where Solo stood and shoved her finger onto his broad chest.

"Well excuse me!" she seethed. "Maybe I should just be a sack of potatoes or something for all I mean to you!"

"But ya don't mean anything ta me at all!" Solo exclaimed.

"So that makes it all right?" Dorothy shrilled. "You take my friend hostage, make me buy you clothes, destroy my home, nearly get me killed, strand me in the middle of a desert, and is it too much to ask that you at least try to put in some effort on protecting me when my life is in danger? Is that too much to ask for?!"

"I was there for all that crap, ya don't have ta repeat it ta me," Solo muttered, scuffing his foot in an almost sheepish manner.

"I saw you save Catherine!" Dorothy continued. "And you just met her!"

"Hey, at least she has more ta talk about than how I ruined her life and can throw a knife," Solo defended. "That's more than I can say of you."

"Why you—" Dorothy began but was cut off as Solo suddenly shoved her away just as a fireball crashed onto the very spot they had been standing.

"Did you forget I was still here?" Mobias deadpanned.

"Kinda," Solo said, scratching the back of his head. "You're a very forgettable person, ya know that?"

"Don't go pissing off the homicidal maniac," Dorothy warned, a bit miffed about being shoved so rudely away.

"I show you forgettable!" Mobias roared, ignoring Dorothy altogether as he formed a massive fireball between his hands.

"Can't ya come up with anything else?" Solo complained. "No wonder yer second rate."

"Second rate?!" Mobias shrieked, his eyes flashing orange in anger. With an animalistic snarl, he shot his fireball at the blond, who dodged nimbly, the fire exploding upon contact with the ground.

"C'mon, I know ya can do better than that!" Solo taunted mercilessly.

Mobias only growled as he extended his fiery whip again, the long string of fire disturbing the earth as Mobias flicked it towards Solo. Rolling his eyes, Solo, somehow, grabbed a hold of the end of the whip with a hand and sharply pulled it towards him, causing Mobias to fly through the air towards him. Solo just leaned out of the way and held an arm up, clotheslining the flame wielder.

"Damn, what happened ta ya?" Solo asked nonchalantly as he picked Mobias up. "You're more pathetic than usual." With a punch, he sent Mobias flying away and into one of the many demolished stalls.

Fire exploded into a large pillar that went straight up into the sky, hitting the Ferris wheel above, but not moving it an inch, and Mobias emerged from the flames, all reason gone from him. With an insane fervor, Mobias sent fireball after fireball at Solo, the blond nimbly dodging them by jumping side to side of each fiery blast as he made his way towards the boy, faking a yawn as he closed the distance between them.

If there was one thing that Solo had figured out about Mobias, it was that he was predictable. How he had come to this conclusion, he did not know, but he supposed it must have been due to having just fought two back-to-back fights with two others who fought with different strategies, one of the two actually knowing how to fight as well.

Mobias was nothing; Solo knew that now. Despite his powers, Mobias was just a loser through thick and thin with the ego the size of the Grand Canyon. Now it was just a matter of the blond forcing this truth down Mobias' throat whether he wanted it or not. Maybe he would choke on it…

Dodging one last fireball, Solo was within arm distance of Mobias and he took advantage of this fact. In a second, he had closed that distance to a few inches, his hands slapping down on Mobias both sides of his head. Ignoring the flames that were licking at his clothes, he uppercutted a dazed Mobias, sending the guy flying high up into the air only to descend back down to the unforgiving ground. As soon as Mobias impacted, it seemed like he had one last trump card as he let loose all the fire he had at his command, forcing Solo to back away quickly with a leap.

Now that had been unexpected. Flames ate up the air and spread everywhere, licking at the branches and roots that were keeping the Ferris wheel up in the air. As for the wheel itself, it had taken a direct impact from the flames and quite a few of the metal bars were beginning to melt. Stubbornly getting back to his feet, Mobias stepped out of his inferno, pissed as hell. The flames engulfed his body like an aura that continued to force Solo back a foot at a time due to the intense heat.

Whether or not it was the sound of crackling fire in his ears or something, Mobias didn't hear an ominous groaning sound from high above but Solo certainly did. Looking up and scanning the sky, he smirked and glanced back at Mobias one last time before leaping back again, getting quite a ways from him. He landed, strangely enough, near Dorothy whom he grabbed a hold of for some other strange reason and took another leap backwards.

Mobias had caught this and even from the distance he stood at, Solo could see the other grinning smugly. "Figured out you can't win?" he taunted.

Solo snorted and shook his head. "Why don't'cha look up, dickhead?"

Frowning, Mobias did so only to take on a look of surprise and realization. The branches that were holding up the Ferris wheel had caught on fire and were starting to loose their hold. As for the wheel itself, too much heat had done too much damage to it and it was just about to break apart and collapse.

Which was precisely what happened.

The center of the Ferris wheel caved in on itself and broke off, causing the effect of the rest of the metal that made up the large wheel to follow. Seeing that he was standing, literally, directly under it and there would be no way for him to get out of the way, Mobias shot a last burst of fire up to try and stop the destroyed wheel's descent but he was too late. He was only able to slow the metal down but it wasn't enough as it crashed into the ground and blocked Mobias from view, his screams covered up by all the screeching sounds of metal colliding with both earth and more metal.

Solo shoved Dorothy down and covered her using his body, protecting her from anything that might bounce off in their direction. Slowly, the racket died off and when Solo was sure, he stood back up to his full height and rolled his shoulders, reveling in the sounds of his joints popping. Dorothy caught herself staring up at him and couldn't hide a blush from staining her cheeks as she stared at how handsome this unlikely hero looked.

Solo promptly spoiled that image by opening his mouth. "Ya just gonna sit there and stare or are ya gonna get up?"

Blinking, Dorothy instead asked aloud, "Why?"

Frowning, Solo repeated, "Why what?"

"Why did you…protect me?" Dorothy clarified, her voice having a wondering quality to it.

"Ya asked me earlier if it was too much ta protect ya if you were in danger," Solo shrugged, "plus ya did buy me and Duo those clothes, so…"

"You mean you did that out of personal obligation?" Dorothy gaped.

"Pretty much," Solo said, clearly not getting what Dorothy was at.

Turning away from Solo, Dorothy crossed her arms and huffed, sticking her noise up in the air as if she was offended, much to Solo's confusion. Shrugging, Solo just resigned himself to not trying to understand how a girl's mind worked and began walking away.

Hearing footsteps walking away from her, Dorothy whirled her head around to see Solo leaving her there. She stared for a few more seconds before she scrambled back up to her feet and chased after him.

"Hey!" she called out after him, miffed.

"What?" Solo sighed, glancing back at her.

"Do you honestly think you're just going to leave me here?" Dorothy demanded bitterly. "After all you've done, don't think I'm just going to let you leave my sight for an instant! You hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya," Solo grumbled. "Don't ya have anything better ta do?"

"Thanks to you, no," Dorothy answered.

"Fine, it's your funeral," Solo replied grouchily.

"Lover's spat?"

The new voice startled both of them and they both looked towards the source to see a crimson-eyed Duo with a bandage on his forehead giving them both a cheeky look.

"Fuck off," Solo growled.

"Whatever, blondie," Duo dismissed, ignoring Solo's bristling. "We got to go and Trowa agreed to give us a ride. He and Catherine are waitin' for us so hurry the fuck up so we can get the hell outta here before more of them come."

"More of them?" Dorothy repeated as she hurried after Solo and now Duo as the two took off again, Duo in the lead.

"Yeah, there's plenty more where these assholes came from," Duo said, "and if we wanna live some more, the sooner we hit the road the better."

"What about Relena? And Heero?" Dorothy asked, bewildered, trying to grasp onto something that at least made some sense to her.

"Don't know, don't care," Duo replied cheerfully without looking back at the girl. "If they're smart, they should be long gone by now and if they aren't, too bad so sad, they're holding us up and we gotta get moving. Besides, they're probably safer if we aren't with them anyway."

"How can you be so callous?" Dorothy exclaimed.

"I just get up in the morning and it's all natural," Duo shrugged, coming into sight of Trowa's RV where Catherine was waiting just outside of it, one of her arms covered in bandages that Solo visibly winced at.

"You guys are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Catherine called out to them. "Hop in and you better have a good reason for all of this. You just made me and Trowa unemployed, you know that?"


	24. Winds of Earthly Fury

Author's Note: Hope y'all had a good Christmas, got some nice stuff and all. Well, back to TMP, shall we? Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Winds of Earthly Rage

It was quiet now.

Slowly but warily, Relena and Heero poked their heads out of their last minute hiding place. It had been an incredible stroke of luck that the two had ended up in the same spot but both were not concerned about that but more about their surroundings.

The circus, or what was left of it, was a mess, a disaster zone to be precise. There was metal, wood, uprooted roots, burned patches of earth, pools of blood, and torn up ground everywhere. It could not be said a tornado did it because even a tornado could only do so much. It seemed more like a bomb went off, a powerful one of course. In the end though, none of it matter as they were the only two still around, alive at least, and there was no sign of anybody else. Not any of the circus workers or the circus goers, no sign of Solo and Duo anywhere, even Dorothy was missing, much to Relena's sorrow. Already she had lost her home and family but now her best friend as well? It was almost too much for the gentle girl.

Heero could see all of that as well and he knew that what he needed to do was get Relena as far away from this place as he possibly could. There was a town nearby; maybe they could get some sort of transportation there and finished the journey to Las Vegas and meet up with his parents. It was the only logical choice of action to be done, so Heero felt. His first priority was Relena now and he was not about to let her get hurt in this thing, whatever it was.

It had all begun nearly four days ago and Heero was ruing the decision to go back home and not sticking with Relena and Dorothy while they went shopping. Whether or not it would have made any difference, he did not know but one thing was for sure he wished he had never met up with those two long haired strangers. They only brought trouble wherever they went and look at where they were now.

Damn it, there was no time for reflecting now. Now was the time to do something and get the hell out of there as soon as possible. While he was a bit sore at not going to search for Dorothy, he was not at all concerned about the whereabouts of the other two.

Thank goodness for that and good riddance.

As they hobbled away from ground zero, both of them ignored the gentle breeze that brushed up against their skins.

---

It was like one large graveyard, a deadland where nothing stirred. The wind blew through the destroyed circus, disturbing nothing as if it was looking for something or someone. Up in the large, tree-like structure that had once held up the malevolent Ferris wheel of doom, the wind began to collect at the highest point, a rounded part of the trunk that looked swollen as if something was inside of it.

The top of this wooden structure was smoldering from flames that had once consumed it, the coals within brightening as the errant wind blew over them, bringing them back to a quasi-life of sorts. The wind began to focus more on the section below it though, the swollen section in fact. The wind churned around it, picking up speed with every second, becoming more and more powerful until it began ripping the bark off, peeling the living wood away until a burst of air exploded from within, splinters and chunks of wood flying in all directions.

Slowly, the wind calmed down but it didn't disappear entirely as it supported the form that had once been cooped up in the swollen section. This form was none other that a boy with black hair that had white tips, his thin frame trembling either from anger or something else. His normally blue eyes with natural streaks of green in them were now a complete solid green, even though they were only cracked open as a hand was pressed up against his temple.

It was enough to say that Jason, the Master of the Wind, had a hangover the likes of which he had never experienced before. It felt as if his head was in a nutcracker or something because a throb of pain pounded in his head as his body sought to reestablish the equilibrium that had been upsetted by his previous alcohol consumption. As he forced himself to open his eyes more, he found that he was in someplace that he didn't recognize at all. How did he get here?

All that he could remember was Mobias being friendlier than usual and giving him something to drink and after that it was a blank… Damn his nonexistent alcohol tolerance! Mobias must have gotten him drunk again before they left that bar. That little bastard was going to pay for that once he got his hands on him. Whatever pain Solo had given him would be nothing compared to what he would do.

The wind swept around him and expanded in an ever increasing sphere, encompassing the entirety of the demolished circus grounds, searching for any sort of life. From that, Jason learned that all of his backup was dead but where was…there he was!

The wind picked up around him again, this time breaking off some last pieces of tree trunk off him and picking him up, steadying him as he lowered himself down towards the center of what used to have been the Ferris wheel. Despite his hangover, he extended his hands out, the wind forming two massive hands that fell upon the metal mess and unceremoniously began throwing it away, searching for a soon-to-be-dead man.

And there he was, crumpled underneath it all but still alive. Mobias. Just the thought of that name made Jason seethe as he extended his wind hands down to grab him roughly and bring the living corpse to him. Mobias cracked his eyes and Jason could see the regret in doing such an action. There was no hope for him now.

"I should tear you apart," Jason growled at the other boy, jostling him with his wind. "In fact, that's what I'm going to do," Jason continued. "But first…"

He extended his awareness through the air, sending out little tendrils in all directions, searching for something, ultimately finding the RV in which their escaping prey was in. Getting a general direction from his senses, he brought his awareness back and swept his hand through the air, a wave of wind forming over the barren plains of the desert, picking up granules of sand as it did so, and going after the two traitors. That should stall them for a bit; now to take care of some more personal business.

He heard Mobias swallow in dread as his green-glowing eyes drifted back towards him. Jason grinned wickedly, imagining all the torments he could impose on the helpless fire wielder when an unexpected source of light flashed on both of them, illuminating not just them but the surrounding area. Jason blinked in surprise, finding that the two of them were surrounded by familiar vans and vehicles, a large man with black hair in a ponytail approaching the two with an emotionless expression on his face.

Gesturing with his tazer for Jason to come down, the large man waited as Jason reluctantly obeyed, his feet settling unsteadily on the ground.

Speaking in a dispassionate manner, the man said, "Mr. Xavien would like to have a word with both of you."

---

They weren't exactly burning rubber but Trowa was sure that they were close to it. The RV wasn't precisely new but it wasn't old and beat-up either. For sure, what it was was reliable. Still, Trowa would have felt more secure if the RV could go faster so that they could put more distance between them and what was left of the circus. Ever since he had put the vehicle into drive, the nearby plants had been screaming at him, taking away the precious concentration he needed to drive. Still, there was hardly anybody, if there was anybody out, around so it was probably all right that his driving wasn't up to respectable standards.

But at least part of the mystery concerning Solo and Duo had been answered, somewhat. Just focusing on that managed to make the mental fuzz in his mind more bearable. There were others who were like them, it seemed. Cursed with abilities forced upon them by, at this he shuddered, men in white coats who seemed to delight in torturing them with electrical shocks and a mysterious liquid that was injected into their bodies. The thought that he wasn't alone in this world lifted his spirits up a bit.

However, that still begged the question of why. Why would these people do such things to them? It was an answer that had eluded him for years, ever since his first waking moment when he found himself strapped to that cold, metal table.

"Hey watch it!"

The voice jerked Trowa out of his memories and he found that he had almost driven off the road. After a sharp correction, he had the RV back on track in the correct lane as well.

"Damn it, I thought you'd be better than that Chinese guy at drivin'," he heard Solo complain somewhere back in the RV. "But he's Japanese," he heard a more innocent Duo pipe up followed by Solo replying, "Same difference."

Yeah, that had been a bit of a shock. Duo having multiple personalities had been the last thing that Trowa would have expected but he had to admit that in his life, he should have expected the unexpected. After all, he had been made a human guinea pig all those years ago…

Glancing at the left sideview mirror, he frowned at how dark it was behind him. As he glanced back through the windshield, he could see the sun slowly rising up, telling the unibanged man that it was morning so what was…?

Sharp screams from the passing vegetation, or at least what could be seen in a desert, along with the salient warnings the earth was sending to him alerted him that something was definitely wrong, that the darkness behind them was not right. Taking the chance, he rolled the window down and poked his head out to look back behind them, pulling back in immediately and rolling the window back up.

"Sandstorm!" he hollered back at the others. "Hold on to something!"

"What da hell's a—" Solo's voice was cut off as Trowa slammed the pedal to the metal, the RV speeding up to as fast as it could go.

Now, normally Trowa wouldn't have been worried about such a thing as a sandstorm but the second he had poked his head out the car window, foolishly, he had been bombarded by the cries of plants shrieking at him that this was no ordinary storm. In fact, it was the kind of storm that required people to take shelter and wait it out but Trowa thought to try and out run the thing instead.

He had overestimated the speed the RV could go and underestimated how fast the storm was. The sandstorm itself was catching up pretty quickly, much to Trowa's chagrin.

"Is this really necessary, Trowa?" Catherine asked him, pulling herself up into the passenger's seat.

Hearing the sound of sand scrapping harshly against back of the RV quieted the female for a few seconds. Taking a look out the sideview mirror, she paled but managed to keep her composure, even as the unusually harsh winds started to make Trowa lose some control he had at the wheel, the wheel in question tugging at his hands. The RV was being forced side to side, even as Trowa urged it to go faster, the sandstorm behind it about to pounce and throw the RV off the road, burying it under promised tons of sand.

Looking back at the other passengers who were looking back at him with apprehension, he turned back towards the road, his mouth opening to speak but the words on his tongue died as something in the distance caught his eye. Was that a building? No, his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, it was a building, a big one at that too. Perhaps they could hole up in there until the storm passed…

And at that moment, Trowa lost control, the steering wheel breaking free from his grip.

"Hold on!" he yelled as he applied the brakes as best as he could while directing the RV towards the potential building as best as he could. The shriek of tires on the pavement was audible, even as the sandstorm roared over them. The steering wheel jerked out of Trowa's grasp and the RV began to spin before toppling over on to a side and rolling.

---

Trowa cracked his emerald eyes open, his mind just surfacing from the murkiness of unconsciousness. Uhg, what happened? Why was everything tilted?

Hearing the wind outside along with an odd yet familiar scraping noise, memories of what had occurred maybe minutes (hours?) ago flashed in his mind. Oh shit, they had wrecked…Cathy!!!

Turning his head to a side as best as his sore neck would allow, he could see Catherine unconscious against the passenger side window, her face swelling from bruises. At least she was still breathing but she definitely needed to get some medical attention and soon. Turning slowly to the others, he could see only Solo was still conscious and completely unharmed from the accident. Hmm, Trowa was going to have to ask about that but he'd have to do that later. Right now there were more important things to worry about.

"Solo?" he croaked out.

Snapping his head towards Trowa, Solo heaved a sigh of relief. "It's about time somebody woke up," he grumbled.

"Is everybody all right back there?" Trowa asked, ignoring Solo.

"Yeah, Duo's okay. Lucky bastard froze time but wasn't able ta hold it too long," Solo said. "Good thing I crashed right next ta him when he did lose control."

"What about Dorothy?" Trowa pressed.

"Who? Oh, the bitch with da eyebrows. She's knocked out."

Trowa frowned at this blatant disregard but pushed it back in his mind for another time. First thing was first, get out of here and into that building. Explaining his plan to the blond, Solo nodded but muttered something about crazy people with only one eye. Unbuckling himself from the driver's seat, Trowa made his way to Catherine and scooped her up into his arms after he figured out that the RV was seated on the passenger side, making sure not to jostle her too much. There wasn't enough room for him to do anything acrobatic so he had to contend himself with climbing down to the unconscious woman.

After that, he crept up to Solo who had Duo and Dorothy balanced on his shoulders like they were nothing but dead weight. "Ready?" the blond asked.

Trowa nodded and added, "I believe the building was that way," nodding his head towards what had once been the roof of the RV.

Nodding, Solo stuck his hand through the roof like it was butter and tore a hole in it. Immediately sand began entering RV but Solo and Trowa were ready to start a mad dash towards their only hope for survival. Sand stung Trowa's skin as he ran as fast as he could, the building much closer than he had anticipated. However, the doors were locked, providing one last obstacle to the two boys.

Noticing a symbolic cross on the doors, Trowa pounded at the door, crying out "Sanctuary!" as loud as he could. Solo could have busted the doors down, yes, but Trowa would have preferred that the doors remained standing, especially since this was a church of all places.

The storm began to worsen before the doors unlocked and opened, the two boys falling in to the safety beyond.


	25. Don't Think you're Safe Cuz it's not

Author's Note: If you've caught that little Complete in the upper bar, your eyes do not deceive you. After you finish reading this chapter, though, check out the Author's Note at the bottom which will explain every thing. Anyway, I'd like to give big thanks out to Archsage Soren and ShadowMajin for reviewing _every single _chapter and for sticking around this long. Don't know where I would be without you two. One more time, I'd like to also give thanks out to Archsage Soren, ShadowMajin, and shinigamiinochi for letting me use their OCs and killing them off without discretion and prejudice. Without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, death

Don't Think you're Safe Cuz it's Not Over

It was late at night when the man known as Brigadier General Victor Katsaris, one of General Septum's closest confidants, and his small entourage of armed men and officers arrived at XAI's underground research facility. Katsaris was a very large man with a naturally powerful build, not an inch of fat on his body whatsoever. He was a balding man with long, dark yet graying hair under a standard military beret and chiseled facial complexion that displayed hardened blue eyes the color of sapphire. His stride was powerful as he walked out of the elevator that was the entrance to the complex and his body was hidden under his military uniform that was decorated with medals, patches, and identifications of rank and superiority.

They would have been here earlier but the General had the distinct impression that Xavien didn't want them there, his transport to the hidden compound incredibly late, even by normal standards.

Standing before him and in his way was none other than Xavien's right hand man Malkov who was dressed in his dark colored mercenary uniform, the man's copyright unexpressive expression painted clear on his face.

The two men stared one another down, neither giving up any ground even though for one it was to make a statement while the other could have cared less. Seeing as how Malkov wasn't going to be the one to instigate anything, Katsaris took it upon himself to do so.

"I'm here to speak to Xavien on behalf of General Septum," Katsaris announced aloud.

Malkov simply nodded and answered, "Mr. Xavien is currently taking care of some business but once he is finished he will meet with you."

Katsaris frowned. "I would much prefer it if I spoke to him now."

"Mr. Xavien's orders were that he was not to be disturbed," Malkov stated, his toneless voice beginning to get to the General. "When he is available, he will speak with you and not until then."

"I'm a General, soldier," Katsaris retorted, glaring at Malkov. "I demand that you step aside and direct me to Xavien, now."

"That may be, sir," Malkov replied, "but I am no longer in the arm services any longer. I am a civilian and work directly for X Associates. This is not the Pentagon, sir. You have no authority whatsoever here."

Growling, Katsaris, tired of this verbal sparing, decided to cut straight to the point and force this man to obey him. He reached for his gun, his entourage copying his actions only to stop as a gun barrel was pressed to his forehead followed by the multiple sounds of other guns being raised at both him and his men.

It looked like Xavien had his own personal army at his beck and call and all of them were right there aiming submachine guns and assault rifles at the small group of outsiders. The gun that was pressed up against his head belonged to none other that Malkov who still remained as impassive as he had been the minute they had met.

"You will go to the quarters that Mr. Xavien has generously provided you and you will wait there until he has finished with his business and not before then," Malkov stated, not even blinking.

Katsaris' eyes darted from side to side and the General found to his dismay that he had no choice but to bow down to these orders. If not, he risked having not only himself but his men being massacred as well right here and right now and Katsaris had no doubt that Xavien's men would do it.

There really wasn't a choice at all, was there?

"Stand down," he ordered his men reluctantly. Focusing his eyes on the man in front of him, he said reluctantly, "Lead us to our quarters then. We'll wait for Xavien to finish his…business."

Malkov only nodded and holstered his firearm. Turning around, he led the defeated General and his men down a large hallway, the rest of Xavien's men watching both Katsaris and his men with their fingers on their triggers.

---

The room was dim where Xavien sat, his desk the only obstacle between himself and the two weapons that had returned from their mission empty-handed. He sat not with his back against his chair but forward and into his desk, his hands pressed together, fingers intertwined, and propped up on previously stated desk by his elbows. His different colored eyes scrutinized the two weapons, as if looking beneath their skin and seeing not organs but cogs and gears as if the two boys were machines and not living people.

For a long amount of time, he had remained silent and even though he knew both of the weapons across from him could probably tear him apart, he knew they wouldn't. They wouldn't dare. He held all the power here and one snap of his fingers could determine the immediate fates of both of these boys should he wish to do so. But that was not what he was going to do, oh no. That would be a waste and he wasn't one to waste such useful tools no matter how defective they may be.

Taking in a small breath of air, he began, "Could one of you please try and explain to me what happened here?"

Both of the weapons opened their mouths to speak but one look from him caused their words to turn into ash in their mouths.

Continuing, he said, "You were all sent out for one simple seek and capture mission. All you had to do was incapacitate #11085 and #12093 and bring them back here or wait for us to come and pick you up. What could be so difficult doing just that? Now, for the first _failure_, I could excuse it for atypical reasons but for this latest one, I have to say I am disappointed in both of you. I sent ten of you out and eight have been eliminated and all for nothing since both of your targets managed to escape and elude you. So I ask you, what happened?"

Xavien's words were sharp in his final sentence and it seemed enough to break the spell of silence that had held the two weapons in thrall and the taller one with spiky black hair was the first to speak, pointing blame at the shorter one with black hair and white tips.

"It wasn't my fault!" the weapon claimed. "I fought with and almost got Solo but Jason didn't do anything whatsoever to help! He just stood back and let us get massacred!"

"Mm hmm," Xavien commented and turned towards the other. "Is that what happened #10615?"

"I stood back during the first fight to study them so that when I fought with them, they wouldn't have been able to beat me," Jason answered. "However, Mobias sabotaged our second meeting with them."

Raising both of his eyebrows, Xavien said, "Really?" while turning towards the other.

"That's a flat out lie!" Mobias insisted, glaring at Jason.

Turning back, he asked, "So how did he 'sabotage' you?"

At this, Jason blushed lightly in embarrassment and scuffed his boot against the floor. "He got me drunk."

"I see," Xavien murmured, his eyes drifting to the other then back. "And how did he do that?"

"He gave it to me under false pretenses and I am unable to recall what happened afterwards until just before we were picked up," Jason answered.

"He's lying!" the other protested loudly. "He didn't tell anybody that he couldn't handle any booze! I swear!"

"Silence #12100," Xavien commanded, becoming a bit irritated but keeping his calm. "Explain to me then," he continued to Jason, "how could he have sabotaged you by getting you drunk if he didn't know about your inability to tolerate a trace of alcohol?"

"We took up temporary residency in a bar while our scout was out finding them," Jason answered. "Mobias and the rest of them saw me…get drunk. It was the next morning that Mobias gave me that drink."

"You lie!" Mobias snarled.

"SILENCE!" Xavien unexpectedly roared, shutting Mobias up. Regaining his cool, Xavien lowered his hands onto his desk, his fingers still intertwined with one another as he began to speak again. "I find that #10615 to have more truth in his explanation," he said, ignoring the frown that graced Jason's face when he refused to use his name. "You see, I have been monitoring you since you destroyed that town and #10615's story is more…compatible with what I've seen. His ability to control the air around him was severely…hindered.

"As of right now, since #10615 is the leading 'expert' in #11085 and #12093's capabilities, he shall be spared for one more chance. #12100, however," at this he looked pointedly at said weapon so as not to leave any confusion on whom he was referring to, "you have demonstrated how inadequate you are. But I will give you one last chance to prove that you deserve one more shot."

"What?" Mobias demanded, fearful for his own hide and willing to do anything to save it. Jason, though, had stepped away from the other weapon, trying to make himself as unobtrusive as possible.

Not answering him immediately, Xavien pressed a button on a nearby intercom and said, "#15555, please enter my office immediately. Your presence is required currently."

A full thirty seconds passed before a door beyond Xavien's desk opened, a new figure entering the room, his appearance intimidating Mobias quickly, much to Xavien's hidden satisfaction.

15555 was of average height and of Chinese descent, his hair shiny and black, tied into a traditional Chinese pony tail. His face held all characteristic details of a Chinese individual, his onyx eyes black pools that absorbed all light and returned none. He was dressed in traditional Chinese garb of a long, white, long-sleeved Chinese shirt and baggy white pants that led to black Chinese slippers. 15555's posture was ramrod straight and his gait was orderly and strict, his movements fluid and graceful on a level that no one in the room could ever hope to achieve.

"Welcome, Chang Wufei," Xavien greeted. "I am so glad you could make it."

15555, or Chang Wufei as Xavien addressed him, said nothing in reply, choosing to remain silent instead. Chuckling to himself, Xavien turned back towards Mobias.

"If you want to ensure your continued existence, #12100, you must prove to me that you are able to best Mr. Chang here in combat right here, right now. If you win, you will be allowed to continue with your mission to capture #11085 and #12093. Should you fail, you will be terminated immediately, no exceptions."

Mobias' eyes widened in surprise but then resumed their characteristic arrogance as he turned to face the newly introduced Wufei. Clenching and unclenching his hands, Mobias said, "Alright but you better have some guys around to clean up the ashes."

At this, Wufei snorted, and lifted his nose up at the fire wielder in scorn.

"Snub me, will ya?" Mobias growled but then grinned wickedly. "We'll see who'll be snubbing who after I'm done with you!" he proclaimed, flames igniting from the palm of his hands, ready to be launched as fireballs at any second.

Without warning, Wufei shot a hand out and something thick shot through the air and impacted Mobias' body. The fire wielder remained where he was but his eyes had widened considerably. Jason soon noticed that Mobias was turning a shade of blue yet it looked like Mobias was breathing just fine. However, each time he exhaled, his breath came out in a puff of steam (or was it smoke?), his teeth chattering loudly and Jason could have sworn he saw tiny icicles form on various parts of Mobias' body.

Smirking, Wufei shot his other hand out and something else cut through the air, this time causing some sort of shimmer in the air as it flew straight towards Mobias. The moment whatever it was connected with Mobias, the fire wielder _shattered_, his body falling into pieces until there was nothing but a pile of hard particles on the floor, the only thing that was left of Mobias.

"Weakling," Wufei spoke for the first time, lowering his arms and crossing them over his chest.

Jason could only stare at the spot where Mobias had once been then up to Wufei, the question of whether or not the other could do the same thing to _him_ filling up his mind.

"Well done," Xavien congratulated, applauding the Chinese youth by clapping his hands. "You really are a credit to your family, Chang."

Wufei just hmpfed and got down to business. "So who is it that you are after and what do I do with them once I find them," he demanded.

Ignoring Wufei's curtness, Xavien replied, "#10615 here will brief you and get you up to date with your mission. Tomorrow morning, you and a new team will be sent out and I expect for you to complete your task with exemplary results."

Rolling his eyes to himself, Wufei replied, "As you wish. You come with me." This last part was said to Jason who awoke from his stupor and stiffened as Wufei's onyx eyes landed on him.

With the Chinese youth leading the way, Jason slowly but surely followed after.

Back in the office, Xavien smirked cruelly, his eyes never leaving the two weapons until the door shut behind them. So even if things hadn't gone exactly as planned, he was getting invaluable data from the fights between 11085 and 12093 against all the other weapons, data he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.

Still, he needed to get this under wraps before other unwanted attention from unwanted interlopers interfered. Project Maxwell would be completed, no matter what. He was so close to unlocking all that the project had to offer and more and he wasn't about to let it all slip through his fingers, not at this point in the game.

He would allow nothing to get in his way or stop him.

Nothing at all…

**To Be Continued…**

To see what happens next, check out part II

The Maxwell Progeny

Author's Note: That's right, you've read correctly. As of now, The Maxwell Project is complete but the story is far from over. Be on the look out for The Maxwell Progeny where we pick back up where this one ends. To tell the total truth, when I took a step back and looked at TMP in its entirety, I saw that it was going to be _long_, longer than even Both Sides of the Tracks, and I said to myself: "No fucking way." So, I cut it into pieces, but just how many, you'll all find out in time. But you won't find any of that out until next year, 2009. In the meantime, you'll have to satisfy yourselves with The Eternal Encore until I get the Progeny up for y'all. Until next time.


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